New-York tribune., 1868-07-06
ABYSSINIA.

IN ABYssINIA.
A derisve smile overspread the face of the incred
ulous American public when it was announced that
Theodore the recently conquered and killed despOt
of Abyssinla claimed to be descendant of solomon
The newspapers printed the dusky potentates pre-
tensions in a brief paragraph, with the sufficient
comment of an admiration point That was as much
as to imply that nothing need be said further upon
claim so prcposterous But thereby hangs tale or
rather curious congomerate Of fact and fable, le-
geud and history.
There is tide in the affairs Of books, as well as OF
men, In lslJ OF thcreabOutS tour copy has lost IT'S
title pagc Mr.. J. Winchester Of this city reprinted
an account Of the mission of Captain, a1terWald
MAJOR. W. c. Harris, Bombay Engineers, to Sahea
Sclassc the King of Shoa, in Southern AbySslnia'
Just when the book was published there seemed to
be no extended interest in It's subject certainly not
i'm this country, probably not i'll England All that
was hoped was the opening of anew avenue OF trade
The revelations of this first official intercourse with
Shoa did not promise much in that direction, ana
subsequent events have confirmed the wisdom OF the
doubts of the mercantile interest shrewd IN It's gem
Grafton. The whole profits Of the trade with Abys-
sjnia have not amounted to enough to pay MAJOR
Horris's expenses to say nothing OF later outlayS
And here is the real key to the occurrences whchled
TO the late war and the death of Theodore. Inter
course with Abyssna did not pay. When stock III
Wall-st or on the London Exchange is neglected 1t
dies and leaves no sign except the sign MINUS 10
the shareholders. But KiugTheodore whose advent
dates few years after Major llarrss expedition dlo
not so coolly take the cold shoulder When he was
chilled bv British neglect he warmed himself by re-
taaton on such British subjects as were IN his power
he could NOT or would not understand how magnlf-
cent overturcs could degenerate into the veXauous
ilatoriness of red tape dcSpOtis as capicous as
woman. and Theodore furnished a nearer parallel to
ga woman scoIned" than is given in the familiar
line which sendsus to warmer place than Abysslnla
If Mr.. Winchestcr's book were in the market just
now, it might perhaps find purchasers 1t was pub
lished twenty years too soon, and Is probably now
not only out of print but out of existence, having
found its way into pulp during the recent hiSh
price of paper 1t is not at all improbable that the
readers of TIE TRIBUNE have had MAJOR Harrlss
work ON their breafast-tabes in the unacceptable
form of a morning paper, the modern palimpsest
which defes all ingenuity to restore the original
Many valuable books have been thus destroyed, to
the great grief of bibliopoles but the public will
have its fresh journals if stale books 60 by the tun to
furnish the daily demand. We shall be giving some
thing few of our readers have if we reproduce
a few facts from Hauis's travels.
From Harris as also from the traveller Bruce, we
can perceive that King TheOdOre's pretensions to
distinguished pedigree, whatever amusement they
may create here command as much respect In Aoys-
sinia as the claims of any royal line receive III Eu-
rope. A catalogue of 40 Arabic and Ethioplc manu-
scripts now extant in Abyssnia. is given. From one
of these, zebra ga Negest "The glory OF the Kings,
we learn the historical fact unknown before out Of
Abyssnia, that in former days the dominion OF the
world was divided between Utopia, or Ethiopia,
and Rome-the dividing line being the parallel on
which Jerusalem is stuated-and that the rulers OF
both Kingdoms, Solomon included Iexcuse anachro-
nisms). were the descendants of Shem. The present
royal families of Abyssina descended from King
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba or Ethiopia This
Oneen Maeueda bv name being informed by mer
chant Tamerin of the wisdom and glory of Solomon
visited that monarch in Jerusalem, is recorded III
the Jewish annals.
Rut consequences followed which are preserved in
the Zebra "a Negest though overlooked by the chron-
clers of Israel After her return to her own land,
the Queen Maqueda was enabled in due course OF
time. TO send back to King Solomon an Ethiopian
SON to be educated in all the wisdom of his father
The son was carefully reared, and duly returned,
with princey retnue of priests and cOunselors, to
his mother His name was called David; he reigned
long and wisely, and is a recognized SAINT IN the
Abyssinian calendar. He must have left large
progeny since every pretender to rule in the various
tribes of Abvssinia must establish his descent from
David. the son of Solomon, before he can have even
apresumptive show to the right of ruling.
Though every native of Abyssnia is ready to swear
by the name of.Soomon. there are some difficulties
in the way of this story Not the least of these is,
that the name Saba. Seba, or Sheba is very indeh-
mite. meaning the South, and that the Arabs in the
southern part of the peninsula also claim the Queen
of Sheba, Who they say was one of SolOmOn's wives.
Mahomet gives his authority to the legend, what
ever that authority may be worth As the Christians
and Mahometans of Ethiopia hate each other with
mutual intensity, it may be that this dispute about
the proprietorshp in the Queen of Sheba has some
thing TO do with their animosity. While, so far as
we know there are now no Hebrews who claim de-
scent from Solomon the Arabs have produced many
who would assert their descent from him, uider the
shelter of his extended connubial relations. The
Queen of Sheba, however, has been appropriated
only by the two peoples of whom we are speaking.
Scholars are divided; and authorities as learned as
any who have written, rule the Ethiopians out Of
court altogether.
But the Abyssnians never have consulted those
authorities. and stand by their claim almost to man.
The traveller Bruce inclines to these opinions and
devotes some space to showing that intercourse with
Jerusalem was neither difficult unlikely in the
time of Solomon. Bruce gives, in his travels, sub
stantialy the same account of the Abyssnian royal
line as is given by Major Harris-neither writer
vouching for its correctness Indeed, the Zebra "a
Necest from which both writers draw their infOrma-
tion. relates some matters which, to use qualified
phrase, are slightly impossible"
There are few points in the history Of this sngu-
lar people which may be considered fixed. One rs,
that from the earliest record of time which the Abys-
sinians have preserved there have been Jews among
them. The royal banner, still retained has the de-
vice of lion and the legend: The lion of the race
of Solomon and the tribe of Judah hath overcome
A. of fbp afp Theodore.