Socinios, thus established on the throne, showed him sell as much inclined as his predecessor to favour the Portuguese. By intermarriages with the natives, and by training their sons to war, they had now increased to a numerous army, formidable l'or their valour, and their superior military skill. It was therefore the in terest of the sovereign to attach them as much as pos sible to his cause ; and, as Socinios well understood that this could only be effected by honouring their priests, and favouring their religion, he invited Peter Paez to court; heard him dispute on the supremacy of the Pope, and the double nature of Christ, and deliver a sermon so eloquent and impressive, that he immedi ately professed his belief in the doctrines which the patriarch had so ably illustrated ; enlarged the territory of the Jesuits at Fremona ; and delivered to Paez two letters, one addressed to the Pope, acknowledging his supremacy, the other to the king of Portugal, request ing a new supply of troops to deliver Abyssinia from the incursions of the Galla.
Soon alter these transactions, the king's attention called from matters of religion, to a rebellion which had already made considerable progress. As the body of Jacob, who fell in the late engagement, had never beet: found, an impostor, assuming his name, appeared arnol*: the mountains of Habab, pretending to have been so dreadfully wounded in the face, that he kept one side of it constantly covered to conceal its delbrinity. His story obtained general credit, and multitudes docked to his standard ; but, whether from his incapacity to sup port the imposture, or his deficiency in the qualifica tions of a general, they were dispersed on the first ap pearance of the royal army ; the posts which he had taken were successively stormed, till, driven from place to place, he at last effected his retreat into his native mountains. But the spirit of rebellion, instead of being quelled by the vigorous activity of the royaiists, seemed to have diffused itself throughout the whole province of Tigre ; so that S( la Christos, the governor, who had al ready dispersed the impostor's army, found it necessary to acquaint his brother Socinios n ith the state of affairs, and to request his assistance. Most of the trcops had been sent on an expedition against the Shangalla and Congas ; yet the king set out immediately for Tigre with the scanty force which he could muster on this emergency. hearing, as he advanced, that a party of Calla had posted themselves on a neighbouring hill, he determined to surround them, and thus cut nil their e treat ; but his cli.valry, whom he sent to reconnoitre their situation, were attacked in pa.-!.ing a deep ravine, and almost entirely destroyed ; while the rest of the ar my were seized with such terror, that they refused to proceed. The G%lla,efier to improve their advantage, rushed forward to attack them. Socinios, advancing
alone, slew the first that opposed him, and his troops, ashamed of their cowardice, and animated by their monarch's example, fell furiously on the enemy, ami obtained a decisive victory. The counterfeit Jacob.
venturing again to take the field, was defeated by So einios with a much inferior force ; and the Gallo, W110 had committed dreadful excesses in the soudiern pro vinces, were surrounded by the king's army, and com pletely cut to pieces. The impostor was soon alter assassinated, and found to be no other than a herdsman from the mountains, to which he had always fled for re fuge, who had covered his face, in reality disfigured by no scar, to conceal his want of resemblance to the prince, whose character he had assumed.
Scarcely was this rebellion suppressed, when an other of a more alarming nature was excited by one .1‘lelchisedee, who had been a servant of Sertza Deng hel, and possessed considerable knowledge of military affairs. Sanuda, a brave officer, who had been sent to oppose him, lost the whole of his army in a single en gagement ; while he himself escaped with difficulty, af ter receiving many wounds. Socinios, after this dis aster, sent his brother Emana Christos with a considera ble army, to reduce this formidable traitor. The well known valour and abilities of Emma Christos could not remove the terror which the rebel forces had diffused throughout the country. To sanction his cause, Mel chisedec had got into his possession a prince of the blood royal, named Arzo, whom he proclaimed king ; after which be boldly advanced to meet the royal army. The combat was obstinate and bloody ; victory seemed even to declare for the rebels ; till Melchisedec, seeing Emma Christos pushing furiously to the place where he stood, fled with the utmost precipitation. But his cow ardice availed hint nothing ; tor he was soon overtaken by the peasants, and executed, with many of his prin cipal officers, in the manner due to their crimes.
The spirit of rebellion now pervaded the kingdom ; the flames of war were kindled in every quarter ; and atrocities perpetrated on both sides, the recital of which would be alike unprofitable and disgusting. The Gon gas, the Agows, the Gallo., and the Jews, who support ed the pretensions of another impostor, were succes sively conquered. Extirpation was the principle on which hostilities were conducted ; a principle which the king, inflamed with religious zeal, exerted in its utmost severity against the Jews. Few of that unhappy people escaped from the general massacre ; their children were sold into captivity ; and those who were allowed to sur ive, were scattered throughout the empire, compelled to renounce their religion for Christianity, and, in token of their sincerity, to labour publicly on the day which they had been accustomed to regard with scrupulous veneration.