sion aimed not only at the Christian population of Shoa, but the Galla tribes extensively spread over the south- eastern parts of Africa. To the Galla language, there- fore, hitherto unwritten, Mr. Krapf's attention was much given. During Mr. Isenberg's stay in London, the following Galla works, prepared by Mr. Krapf, were printed : Vocabulary, l"2mo ; Elements of the Galla Language, 12mo ; Matthew's Gospel, 12mo ; John's Gospel, 12mo.
Recent indications give us better hopes of Abys- sinia. In 1849 the Roman Catholic missionaries them- selves were expelled. The young king of Shoa re- quested in that year the return of Dr. Krapf, now en- gaged in the East African Mission. King Theodore, who now unites under his sceptre the greater part of Abyssinia, has shown himself favorable to the Prot- estant missions. The present Abuna, appointed in 1841, is a pupil of the Church Mission school at Cairo. At the request of both the king and the Abuna the missionaries of the Society of Basle have recommenced their labors for the evangelization of the Abyssinian Church. In 1858 their number was increased to six. In 1859 the king received gladly the vernacular Scrip- tures sent by the London Bible Society, and began at once to distribute them. In the same year Negussie, king of Tigre and Samen, sent an embassy to Rome to announce to the pope his submission to the Roman Church. According to the reports of the Roman Catholic missionaries, 50,000 subjects of the king have entered with him into communion with Rome. See Africa.
II. Doctrines and Usages. — (1.) The Abyssinian creed is, as has been said, Monophysite, or Eutychian ; maintaining one nature only in the person of Christ, namely, the divine, in which they considered all the properties- of the humanity to be absorbed, in opposi- tion to the Nestorians. In both faith and worship they resemble the Romish Church in many respects ; but they do not admit transubstantiation. (2.) They practise the invocation of saints, prayer for the dead, and the veneration of relics ; and while they reject the use of images, they admit a profusion of pictures, and venerate them. The}' practise circumcision, but ap- parently not as a religious rite. They keep both the Jewish and the Christian sabbath, and also a great number of holidays. Their clergy and churches are very numerous, the latter richly ornamented ; and the number of monastic institutions among them is said to be great. The monks call themselves followers of St. Anthony, but follow various rules. (3.) The supreme government lies with the patriarch, called Abuna (q. v.), who resides in Gondar. The Abuna receives his investiture from the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria, who is the nominal head of the Ethiopian Church. (4.) They practise an annual ablution, which they term baptism, and -which they consider necessary to wash away the defilement of sin. The priests receive the Lord's Supper every day, and always fasting ; be- sides priests and monks, scarcely any but aged per- sons and children attend the communion. They call the consecration of the element Mellawat. At Gon- dar Bishop Gobat found no person that believed in transubstantiation. In Tigre there are some who be- lieve in it. The wine is mixed with water. They consider fasting essential to religion ; consequently their fasts occupy the greater part of the year, about nine months ; but these are seldom all observed ex- cept by a few monks. The priests may be married men, but the}' may not marry after the}' have received orders. The priesthood is very illiterate, and there is no preaching at all. The Abyssinians prostrate them- selves to the saints, and especially to the Virgin ; and, like the Copts of Egypt, practice circumcision. When questioned on the subject, they answer that they con- sider circumcision merely as a custom, and that they abstain from the animals forbidden in the Mosaic law, but only because they have a disgust to them ; but
ACACIA
Dr. Gobat observed that, when the}- spoke upon these subjects without noticing the presence of a stranger, they attached a religious importance to circumcision, and that a priest would not fail to impose a fast or penance on a man who had eaten of a wild boar or a hare without the pretext of illness. In short, their religion consists chiefly in ceremonial observances. Their moral condition is very low; facilities of di- vorce are great, and chastity is a rare virtue ; the same man frequently marries several women in succession, and the neglected wives attach themselves to other men. Yet their religion, corrupt as it is, has raised the Abyssinian character to a height far beyond that of any African race. Much authentic information as to this interesting Church and people in modern times is to be found in Gobat, Three Years' Residence in Abys- sinia ; Isenberg and Krapf, Missionarij Journals in Abyssinia (Lond. 1843, 8vo) ; Marsden, Churches and Sects, vol. i ; Newcomb, Cyclopaedia of Missions ; Riip- pell, [{risen in Abyssinim, Frankf. 1840; Veitch, W. D. Notes from a Journal of E. M. Flad, one of Bishop Gobafs missionaries in Abyssinia, with a sketch of the Abyssinian Church (London, 1859); Schem, Eccles. Year-book for 1859, p. 225; American Theol. Review, Febr. I860.
Acacia. See Shittaii-tree.
Acacians, followers of Acacius, Monophthalmus, bishop of Ciesarea. In the Council of Seleucia, A.U. 359, they openly professed their agreement with the pure Arians, maintaining, in opposition to the semi- Arians, that the Son was not of the same substance with the Father, and that even the likeness of the Son to the Father was a likeness of will only, and not of essence. Socrat. Eccl. Hist, iii, 25. See Acacius.