The Religious War.
Miserable indeed appeared the chance of conversion; and after a fierce struggle of thirty years, there remained not one priest of the Romish faith to administer the sacraments to the numerous European settlers and descendants in the country. Even the Jesuits themselves lost heart for the time; but the zeal of Philip the Second stirred the dying embers, and fresh candidates for strife, honour, and martyrdom, were soon in the field.
Peter Pero Pays and Antonio de Montzerado, disguised as Armenian merchants, first attempted the perilous undertaking; but being wrecked upon the Arabian coast, they were recognised as Christian ministers, and languished during seven years in a Moslem dungeon.
Goa next poured forth her priests to the ineffectual contest. In seeking the promised land, Abraham de Georgis was discovered in Turkish garb on the island of Massowah, and the governor swore by the holy Prophet, that, since the káfir had donned the attire of the true believer, he should also adopt the tenets of the true faith, or die the death of a dog. But the Jesuit clung to his creed, and suffered accordingly; and, shortly afterwards, Jean Baptiste being detected in assumed costume, by the Turks of Comera, he also shared the same fate as his immediate predecessor, in the thorny path of martyrdom.
Thus even the road itself seemed to close, and all intercourse was denied with a country wherein the presence of Europeans was neither desired nor permitted; and which would have been suffered to remain unmolested, had not exaggerated ideas of its wealth still pervaded the imagination of all classes throughout the western world.
Don Alexis de Menezez, the zealous Archbishop of Goa, who had already with fire and sword propagated Christianity throughout Malabar, now entered the lists, and his sagacious and discerning mind selected the vicar of Saint Anne as a fit tool for the execution of his project. Melchior Sylva, a converted Brahmin, might, from his colour and language, pass through the Turkish wicket. His zeal was great as that of his superior, and the valuable presents whereof he was made the bearer, might prove a bait sufficiently tempting to lure the simple Abyssinian into a fresh connexion.
The intelligence of his safe arrival, and of the gracious reception of the presents, again roused the ardent spirit of the order of Jesus; and Peter Pays was quickly ransomed from the Arabs, and despatched with a full train of priests to Ethiopia, where he arrived in September of the year 1603.
Superior in every respect to his predecessors, this missionary, instead of attempting to carry his measures by force and overbearing insolence, sought the softer path of insinuation; and whilst his extensive knowledge and plausible address proved strong recommendations in his favour, many circumstances also conspired to forward his views. The country was in a most unsettled state, and the assistance of a few Portuguese troops could turn the scale of war. The condition of the church was low and miserable. Eighty years of incessant strife and distraction had crushed the very name of learning and literature. Few persons were to be found who could read, write, or dispute. Ignorant and unworthy men filled every sacred office; and the ancient defenders of the Alexandrian faith had been swept away on the battlefield.
Amidst wars, and rumours of wars, Peter quietly settled with his followers at Maiguagua. Schools were opened, and the wonder ran through the land, that youths of tender age could refute the most learned sages of the wilderness of Walkayet. The curiosity of Za Dengel, the temporary occupant of the throne, was excited, and Peter, with his erudite pupils, was summoned to the court.
Prompted by the hope of obtaining assistance from Portugal, this weak prince, under an oath of secrecy, immediately embraced the religion of his guest. But his time was fully occupied in the more worldly object of strengthening himself upon a throne to which he had been elevated by his evil genius; and the falling away from the faith of his forefathers being at length whispered abroad, a rebellion was the consequence.