The imprudence of the king first brought matters to a crisis. Ayo, an old and respectable officer, had late ly resigned the government of into the hands of the queen. Ilis son, Mariam Berea, esteem ed the must ac «anplished nobleman in the kingclun had married Won, Esther, daughter of the old quern by her second husband ; and it was of course expect ed, that he should succeed his father in the gov em inent. A quarrel had unfortunately happened between Ayo and Suitt!! Michael, which continued undecided till Ayo resigned. Rejecting the decision of judges, whom he thought partial and unjust, Mariam insisted that the king should either determine the affair in per son, or that it should be referred to the sword ; and his firmness was branded by his enemies as disobedience and rebellion. On this account, Joas, deprived him, by proclamation, of the government of Begemder, bestow ing it on his uncle Bruhle. This appointment was heard with general terror and indignation. As Begcmder is a frontier province, bordering on the Galla, it was obvi ous, that on the accession of Bruhle, it would be ovc r run by that people, savage beyond all other barbarian. Mariam himself was particularly indignant at the titan ner in which he was deprived of his dignity, and sub jetted to a race of pagans, whom he had often compel led in battle to acknowledge his superiority. He sent a remonstrance to the king, reminding him, that he had sworn, as governor of Begemder, to allow none of the Galla to enter Isis province ; warning him of the dan ger to which the princes in Wee hne would be exposed from the vicinity of these barbarians ; and entreating. that, if he was determined to deprive him of the govern ment, he would at least bestow it on, an Abyssinian noble man, in which case he would retire and live in private with his father. At the same time, he declared, that if the king himself should invade his po\ ince at the head of an army of Galla, lie would retire to its farthest ex tremity, leaving every kind of provision for his majes ty's troops. But if an army, conducted by a Galla com mander, should march towards Bcgemder, he would en counter them, on the frontiers, before one of them should drink of the well of Fenny, or advance the length of pike into the province. To this spirited remonstrance. Joas returned a scoffing answer, announcing the speed, arrival of Bruhlc ; at the same time lie created Michael governor of Samcn, that, in case there should be occa sion for him, he might meet with no obstruction in his march to Gondar. Mariam, provoked by the king's message, replied with equal disdain ; alluding ironical ly to the name of Bruhlc, which, in the Abyssinian lan guage, signifies a bottle, and telling him, that this Bruhle, if sent into that country, should be broken on th r rocks of Begemder.
The royal army was instantly put in motion, but tht Abyssinians refused to draw a sword against their coun trymen ; the Galla, unable to support the shock of Ma riam's army, were defeated at the well of Fernay ; and though Mariam had given express orders that Bruhle should, if possible, be taken alive, one of his servanti pierced him twice with a lance, and stretched him dead on the field. On hearing of this disaster. Joas instant!) despatched an express for Michael, and invested him with the dignity of Ras, attended with unlimited power, both military and civil. Michael, who was prepared for this event, set out for the capital with an army of 20,000 clic sen men,1000 of whom were armed with muskets These troops, who were allowed to take along with them tic idle: tents nor provisions, desolated the country througl. which they passed ; so that the inhabitants fled before them, as from the most inveterate enemies. When he arrived at Gondar, 11i, bad, as if he meant to invest it, took possession of all the avenues ; but, instead of com mitting any act of hostility, he waited on the king with the utmost respect, and, proceeding from the palact, to his own house, he there sat in judgment, as the nature of his office required. In the administration of justice he was so rigorous and impartial, that in a short time, the most valuable articles w ere left. in the streets of Gondar night and clay, without being stolen , and the people, who o ere at first alarmed by his severity, now only regretted that he had not come sooner to relieve them from the con fusion and anarchy which had so long prevailed.
Having thus secured the tranquillity of the capital, he set out on his expedition to Begemder. But being unwilling to incur the odium which would attend the des truction of the excellent Mariam, he insisted that the king himself should march from Gondar, attended by his whole army, and took every occasion of extolling Mariam's vir tues, and censuring the king for attempting to destroy such a meritorious subject. 'Mariam, as he had pro
mised in his last remonstrance, retired to the extremity of the province, while Joas and Michael hurried on with im petuosity, spreading terror and desolation wherever they appeared. An engagement took place on the extreme borders of Begemder, in which the royal army, amoun ting to twice the number of Mariam's, soon obtained the victory. The unfortunate nobleman, with twelve of his officers, took refuge among the Galla, by whom they were immediately betrayed The throat of Mariam was cut by Litho, the brother of Bruh le, and his body disfigured in a shocking manner. His head was carried to Michael's tent who would not allow it to be uncovered in his presence ; and when Litho demanded the twelve officers, who had sought protection from the Ras, to be delivered up for ex ecution, Michael was so enraged, that he ordered Woo sheka, Lubo's messenger, to be cut in pieces at his tent door ; an order which would certainly have been execu ted, had he not fled with the utmost precipitation.
Michael had always been offended at the ascendency which the Galla had gained over the king ; and his jealousy was now still farther roused by the favour which Joas dis played towards another officer, Waragna Fasil, a Galla by birth, who had distinguished himself at the battle in which Mariam was slain. Not for from the field of battle, 'Mari am Barea had a house, where his widow Ozoro Esther at that time resided. Here Fasil, invited by the pleasantness of the situation, encamped with his cavalry. Ozoro Esther was alarmed. At the advice of Ayto Aylo, a nobleman in whom she placed great confidence, she repaired to Mi chael's tent, and threw herself at his feet ; while Aylo in formed the Ras, that she intended to give him her hand, as he was the only person free from the guilt of the mur der of her former husband, who could now afford her pro tection. Michael, overjoyed at the prospect of such an advantageous match, caused his army to be drawn out in battle-array ; and, sending for a priest, was married to the princess in sight of all the soldiers. The air rung with their acclamations, and Joas, being informed of the reason, ex pressed his displeasure in such unequivocal terms, that, from that moment, Michael and he regarded each other with mutual hatred. A trilling accident soon made their hatred public. Michael, to screen himself from the heat attic sun, happened one day to throw a white handker due over his head. The king, who was then marching at the head of his army, regarded this as an insult offered to himself; and, though the handkerchief was instantly tt ithdrawn, wen thl accept of no atonement for such a hei nous traosgression. Some time after this, fasil being i;.- ed in a qua' rel NS ith a man of great consequence, the Ras, as civil judge, summoned both parties to appear be furs his tribunal. Fasil rejected his jurisdiction ; and the affair was submitted to the other civil judges, who decided in favour of :Michael, and declared Fasil in re bellion. This decision was followed by a proclamation, depriving him of his government of Damot, and of every other public office with which lie was invested. The Gana chief, instead of submitting to this disgrace, en camped on the high road betwixt Damot and Gondar, intercepting all the provisions coming to the capital from the south. A shot was next fired at the Ras from the windows of the palace, while he sat, in judgment in his own house. The intrntion of this shot could not be mistaken. Joas instantly removed to a distance, but sent Woosheka to desire Michael to return to Tigre o idiom seeing his face ; informing him at the same time, that he had committed to his uncle Lubo the go vernment of Begemder and Amhara. Next day, four judges were sent to Michael by the king, commanding him, on pain of his severest displeasure, to depart for Tigre with all expedition. The Ras returned a formal answer, expressing his hope that the king himself would immediately march against Fasil. When this was re fused, Michael issued a proclamation, commanding all the Galla to leave the capital next day on pain of death. Fasil was soon after defeated in an engagement, and obliged to retire into Damot. In this engagement some of the king's black horse were taken, and, on being questioned by Michael, confessed that they had been sent by his majesty to the assistance of his enemy. Mi chael immediately sent assassins to take away the life of his sovereign,—in which they soon succeeded, and bu ried him in the church of St Raphael.