much of the authority formerly annexed to them, and of no small part of their revenues and privileges. At first it was intended to suppress all monasteries, whether for men or for women. But from this design the emperor so far departed afterwards, that he himself dedicated a magnificent house of this kind to Alexander Newsky, whom the Russians number among their saints.7

§ 6. A part of the Asiatic Monophysites, for a time, left the religion of their fathers, and united themselves with the Romanists. Their prompter to this measure was one Andrew Achigian, who had been educated at Rome, was appointed patriarch by the Roman pontiff, and assumed the name of Ignatius XXIV.8 At his death, one Peter, who took the name of Ignatius XXV., assumed the office; but at the instigation of the legitimate. primate of the sect, he was banished by the Turks, and the little flock of which he was the head was soon dispersed." Of the African Monophysites, the Copts, notwithstanding their wretchedness, ignorance, and poverty, firmly resisted the persons who so often solicited them, with very advantageous offers, to become united with the Romans. In what manner the Abyssinians freed themselves from the yoke of the Romish bishop, which they had indiscreetly taken upon themselves, and asserted their ancient independence, has already been stated. And it will now be proper to add, that in some of the Lutherans a holy desire arose to deliver the Abyssinian nation from the darkness of ignorance and superstition, and to bring them to a better knowledge of religion. Prompted by such motives, Peter Heyling of Lubec, a very pious and learned man, visited them in the year 1634; who, after spending many years in Ethiopia, where he gained so much upon the emperor, as to be made his prime minister, and having accomplished much for the advantage of the people, on his return to Europe, lost his life by means unknown.1 Afterwards, Ernest, duke of Saxe-Gotha, whose

On these subjects much information may be obtained from Peter van Haven's Travels in Russia; which are extant in a German translation from the Danish.

From the 15th century onward, all the primates of the Monophysite sect have chosen to bear the name of Ignatius; for no other reason, if I do not mistake, than to indicate by their name, that they are successors to Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch in the first century,

and the legitimate patriarchs of that see. A similar motive has induced the Maronite primates, who also claim the title of patriarchs of Antioch, to assume the name of Peter. For St. Peter is said to have governed the church of Antioch before Ignatius.

9 See Jc. Simon Asseman's Biblioth. Orientalis Clementino- Vaticana, tom. ii. p. 482, and in Diss. de Monophysitis, § iii. p. 6, 7. A valuable life of this man was pub

exemplary virtue procured him the surname of Pious, at the suggestion and recommendation of that extraordinary man, Job Ludolf, attempted to explore a way for teachers of the reformed religion to go among those distant Christians, by means of Gregory, an Abyssinian, who was then in Europe.2 But Gregory perishing by shipwreck in 1657, Ernest sent Jo. Mich. Wansleben, of Erfurth, in 1663, with very wise instructions, to conciliate, if possible, the good will of the Abyssinians towards the Germans. Wansleben, however, lingered in Egypt; and upon his return, not being able to account for the money that he had received, he went over to the Romish religion in 1667, and became a Dominican friar.3

Thus the designs of this excellent

duke were frustrated: yet they were attended with this advantage, that Job. Ludolf, by his very learned and elaborate works, threw much light upon the history, the sentiments, and the literature of the Abyssinians, which before had been but little known among the Europeans.

§ 7. A considerable change in the affairs of the Armenians took place not long after the commencement of this century, originating from Abbas I., the king of Persia, who for his achievements was surnamed the Great; for he laid waste all that part of Armenia which was contiguous to Persia, with a view to prevent the Turks from invading his territories; and caused most of its inhabitants to migrate and settle in Persia. For what the Europeans endeavour to accomplish by erecting castles and fortresses along their borders, the kings of the East prefer to effect by depopulating the frontier parts and provinces of their kingdoms. The richest and best of these Armenians removed to Ispahan, the capital of the kingdom, and took up their abode in the splendid suburb which the king called Julfa, where they have their own bishop. So long as Abbas lived, as he was a magnanimous prince and much attached to his people, these exiles enjoyed great prosperity; but after his death, they were involved in calamities and persecutions. And hence, not a few of them have apostatized to Mahumedism; and it is to be feared that this portion of the Armenian church will become wholly extinct. On the other hand, the Asiatic Armenians have, undoubtedly, derived no little advantage from the permanent settlement of very many of their nation, during this century, for commercial purposes, in most of the countries of Europe, as at Marseilles in France, and in London, Amsterdam, and Venice. For not to mention other things, this has afforded them an opportunity to print the Bible, and many other books,

he wrote his Relatione dello Stato presente dell' Egitto; and in 1677, his Nouvelle Relation, en forme de Journal de son Voyage fait en Egypte. His history of the church of Alexandria, was also published in French. Schl.]

See Jo. Chardin, Voyage en Perse, tom. ii. p. 106, &c. Gabr. du Chinon, Nouvelles Relations du Levant, p. 206, &c.

Of the Armenians residing at Marseilles, and the books they have printed there, see Rich. Simon's Lettres Choisies,

tom. ii. p. 137. Of their Bible, printed in Holland, he likewise treats, ibid. tom. iv. p. 160. So also does Jo. Joach. Schroeder, in his Thesaurus Linguæ Armenica; or rather in the Diss. de Lingua Armenica, which is prefixed to this Thesaurus, cap. iv. p. 60. The other Armenian books printed at Venice, Lemburg, and especially at Amsterdam, are enumerated by this very learned man, loc. cit. cap. ii. § xxv. &c. p. 38,

&c.

especially those of a religious kind, in the Armenian character, in Holland chiefly and England; which books, being sent to the Armenians living under the Persians and Turks, undoubtedly keep that race, which is rude and inclined to superstition, from losing all knowledge of the Christian religion.

§ 8. The disunion among the Nestorians, which rent that church in the preceding century, could not be healed at all in this. Among the patriarchs of Mosul, Elias II. sent his envoy to Rome, in the year 1607, and again in the year 1610, to obtain the friendship of the pontiff; and in a letter to Paul V., he avowed himself ready to sanction a union between the Nestorians and the Romans. Elias III., though at first extremely averse from the Romish rites, yet in the year 1657, addressed a letter to the Congregation de propaganda fide, signifying his willingness to join the Romish church, provided the pontiffs would grant to the Nestorians a place of worship at Rome, and would not corrupt or disturb at all the tenets of the sect.7 But the Romans doubtless perceived that a union formed on the terms here stated, would be of no use or advantage to their cause; for we have no information, that the Nestorians were at that time received into the Romish communion, or that the prelates of Mosul afterwards were again solicitous to conciliate the Roman pontiff. The Nestorian patriarchs of Ormus, who all bore the name of Simeon, likewise made two proposals, in 1619 and 1653, for renewing their former alliance with the Roman pontiffs, and sent to Rome a tract explanatory of their religious sentiments. But either these prelates did not offer satisfactory terms to the Romans, or, on account of their poverty and very slender power, they were despised at Rome: for it appears, that from the year 1617, the prelates at Ormus were in a very low state, and no longer excited the envy of those at Mosul. There was, however, a little poor congregation of Roman catholics formed among the Nestorians about the middle of this century, whose bishops or patriarchs reside in the city of Amida or Diarbekir, and all bear the name o

6 Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Orient. Clement. Vaticana, tom. i. p. 543, tom. ii. p. 457, tom. iii. pt. i. p. 650.

7 Asseman, loc. cit. tom. iii. pt. ii. p.

cml.

s Asseman, loc. cit. tom. i. p. 531, tom. ii. p. 457, tom. iii. pt. i. p. 622.

" Peter Strozza, Præfatio ad Librum de Chaldæorum Dogmatibus.

2

Joseph. The Nestorians inhabiting the coast of Malabar, and who are called Christians of St. Thomas, so long as the Portuguese possessed those regions, were miserably harassed by the Romish priests, especially by the Jesuits; and yet no vexations, nor menaces, nor artifices, could bring the whole of them to prefer Roman sacred rites to those of their fathers. But when Cochin was conquered by the Dutch, in 1663, and the Portuguese were expelled from those regions 3, their former liberty of worshipping God in the manner of their ancestors was restored to that oppressed people; and they continue to enjoy it to the present time. At the same time, the Dutch give no trouble to those among them who choose to continue in the Romish religion, provided they will treat kindly and peacefully those who differ from them.

1 See Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. ii. p. 1078.

Of these, Matur. Veisse la Croze treats largely, Histoire du Christianisme des Indes, liv. v. p. 344, &c.

3 Gautier Schouten, Voyage aux Indes Orientales, tom. i. p. 319, &c. p. 466, &c.