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Original Communications.

THE NEW FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH, ALDERSGATE STREET. THIS ornamental novelty stands in one of the most ancient streets of London, a street in which nobles and statesmen once resided. Such an erection is a monument of the folly and bigotry of some of the monarchs of France, who, by their absurd but atrocious persecutions, drove away many of their best subjects to aid, by their industry and talent, that country which was then deemed (happily the idea is now exploded it may be hoped for ever) the natural enemy of France. This monstrous delusion, which caused sages supposed to be good, and who aimed at being celebrated as great, to make themselves the unpitying enemies of men who differed from them in matters of faith, compelled thousands of No. 1196.]

Palmer's Glyphography.

pious Protestants to fly from their native land. Here and in other countries they were received with open arms, and allowed to worship the Almighty in that way which their hearts had learned to approve.

Some idea of the virtue and amiable nature of the leading men who thus made themselves conspicuous at different periods will be gained from the sketch of Anne de Montmorency, which appears in another part of our present number.

The church, of which this is the representative or successor, it will be collected, from what has been stated, is of some antiquity. Maitland, in 1756, writes of it thus:

"An episcopal French church, which assembles in the small remains of the ancient parish church of St Martin Orgar; part of the tower, the nave thereof, being found capable of repairs after the fire of [VOL. XIIII.

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London: of which the following is the best account we are able to collect:-

"A bill of parliament being engrossed for the erecting a church for the French Protestants sojourning in London, in the churchyard of this parish of St Martin Orgar, after the great fire; the parishioners offered reasons to the parliament against it, declaring, nevertheless, that they were not against erecting a church, but against erecting it in the place mentioned in the bill: since by the act for rebuilding the city, the site and churchyard of St Martin Orgar, was directed to be enclosed with a wall, and laid open for a burying place for the parish.

"The said act was for confirming a lease of the churchyard, made from the parson and churchwardens of the said parish unto certain trustees for fifty years, to erect a church there for French Protestants, with liberty for the parson and churchwardens, during the said term, to renew the said lease for fifty years, and so on. This was agreed on at a vestry: but many of the parishioners not knowing of this that was done, and so without and contrary to their assent, now put up their reasons against passing the bill. But, notwithstanding, the bill passed; and there is a French episcopal church there at this time."

The edifice represented above was only completed in August last. It stands at the corner of Bull-and-Mouth street, opposite the Post-office yard. It has a residence for the minister attached.

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY-MAJOR HARRIS'S TRAVELS

THE session of the Ethnological Society has opened under very favourable circumstances. Its members have increased; and each succeeding meeting has a higher in terest attached to it than belonged to its predecessor.

The members continue to assemble at Dr Hodgkin's, in Lower Brook street; and at the sitting of last week a very important paper on Abyssinia, by Major Harris, was read by Dr King. The major, favoured by various incidents, has had extraordinary instances of making himself acquainted with Africa, and the character, habits, and languages of its inhabitants; and he exhibited to the society many curious objects produced by their industry; some of which, though unlike European ornaments, were by no means wanting in elegance. The Africans of that part of the continent which he has visited appear to acquire the arts of civilized na tions with great facility. We are enabled to gratify our readers with a few extracts: "The country inhabited by the Doko is clothed with a dense forest of bamboo, in the depths of which the people construct their rude wigwams of bent canes and grass. They have no king, no laws, no arts, no

arms; possess neither flocks nor herds; are not hunters; do not cultivate the soil, but subsist entirely upon fruits, roots, mice, serpents, reptiles, ants, and honey. They beguile serpents by whistling, and having torn them piecemeal with their long nails, devour them raw, fire being unknown in the land: but although the forests abound with elephants, buffaloes, lions, and leopards, they have no means of destroying or entrapping them. A large tree, called loko, is found, amongst many other species, attaining an extraordinary height; the roots of which, when scraped, are red, and serve for food. The yebo and meytee are the principal fruits; to obtain which, women as well as men ascend the trees like monkeys, and in their quarrels and scram⚫ bles not unfrequently throw each other down from the branches.

"Both sexes go perfectly naked; and have thick pouting lips, diminutive eyes, and flat noses. The hair is not woolly, and in the female reaches to the shoulders. The nails, never pared, grow both on the hands and feet like eagle's talons, and are employed in digging for ants. They perforate the ears in infancy with a pointed bamboo, so as to leave nothing save the external cartilage; but they neither tattoo nor pierce the nose. The only ornament worn is a necklace, composed of the spines of as serpent. The men have no beards The hair does not turn grey with age, nor do they become blind; and sickness being un known in the country, they usually die a natural death, falling like the autumnal leaves when the number of their years is accomplished.

"After the birth of an infant, the mother soon accustoms it to eat ants and reptiles; and abandons it the moment it is capable of shifting for itself. Marriage is unknown amongst the Doko. They are prolific, and their redundant population affords the wealth of the slave dealer. The rovers of Enarea proceed in large bodies into the wilderness; and, holding a gay cloth before. their persons, dance and sing in a peculiar manner; when the defenceless pigmies, knowing from sad experience that all who attempt to escape will be ruthlessly hunted down, and perhaps slain, tamely approach, and suffer the cloth to be thrown over their heads. They are most frequently found in high trees; and enticed down by the offer of ants, reptiles, and salt.

"One hundred merchants can thus kidnap a thousand Dokos; and from ignorance of all countries lying beyond that of their nativity, the captives make no attempt to escape. They are nevertheless tied up until accustomed to eat bread, to which at first they display a great aversion, as also to any food which has undergone a culinary process; and long after their enslavement they are prone to their old habits of digging

for ants, or searching for mice, lizards, and serpents. On account of their docility and usefulness, as well as of their few wants, none are ever sold by the slave dealers out of the country around the Gochob; and the same rule is observed by the people of Kosboo and Dumbaro, during whose inroads into the dense forests of bamboo, the creaking of which is represented to be loud and incessant, fierce and bloody struggles often take place with the other hunters of

men.

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Agreeing in every respect with the type of Herodotus, the Doko are unquestionably the pigmies of the ancients, who describe them as found only in tropical Africa. Nothing that is related of these people, whether as respects stature or habits, is either preposterous or unworthy of credit; nor do the descriptions given of them differ in any very material points from what is known of the bushmen of Southern Africa, amongst whom I have been. It is a curious fact that the people of Caffa represent their forefather, Boogazee,' to have issued from a cave in a forest-a tradition which cannot fail to call to mind the Troglodytes of the Father of History, also described as inhabitants of this portion of the continent." Of the people of Zingero we have the following traits and superstitions:

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Immediately upon the birth of a male child, the mamma are amputated, from a belief that no warrior can be brave who possesses them, and that they should belong only to women. This fact is fully corroborated in the persons of the few prisoners of war who reach the kingdom of Shoa, the majority committing suicide when doomed to exile. Prior to the conquest of Zingero, no male slave was ever sold; a practice which is said to have originated in the criminality of one of the daughters of Eve. A certain king of old commanded a man of rank to slaughter his wife, her flesh having been prescribed by the sorcerers as the only cure for a malady wherewith his majesty was grievously afflicted, Returning to his house for the purpose of executing the royal mandate, the noble found his fair partner sleeping, and her beauty disarming him, his hand refused to perpetrate the murderous deed. Hereupon the despot, waxing wrath, directed the lady to slay her husband, which she did without remorse or hesitation, and thus brought odium upon the whole sex, who have since been considered fit only to become slaves and drudges.

"Human sacrifices have ever been, and still are, frightfully common in Zingero. When exporting slaves from that country, the merchant invariably throws a female into the river Ume, in form of a tribute or propitiatory offering to the genius of the water. It is the duty of a large portion of the population to bring their first

born as a sacrifice to the Deity, a custom which tradition assigns to the advice of the sorcerers. In days of yore, it is said that the seasons became jumbled. There was neither summer nor winter, and the fruits of the earth came not to maturity. Having assembled the magicians, the king commanded them to show how this state of things might be rectified, and the rebellious seasons reduced to order. The wise men counselled the cutting down of a great pillar of iron which stood before the gate of the capital, and the pedestal whereof remains to the present time.. This had the effect desired; but in order to prevent a relapse into the former chaos of confusion, the magi directed that the pillar, as well as the footstool of the throne, might be annually deluged in human blood, in obedience to which a tribute was levied upon the first-born, who are immolated on the spot."

We now give the traveller's description of some eminent individuals :

"The governor, or, in fact, the king of all the Galla now dependent on Shod, is Abogaz Marelch, who resides at Wouabadera, south of Augollallah. At first a bitter enemy of Sahela Selassic, this haughty warrior chief, renowned for his bravery, was finally gained over by bribes and by promises of distinction and advancement, which have actually been fulfilled. Partly by force, and partly by soft words and judicious intermarriages with chiefs of the various tribes, he contrives to keep in some sort of order the wild spirits over whom he presides, but is taxed with want of proper severity, and, though still high in favour, has more than once been suspected of divulging the imperial projects.

"Abba Mooalle, the governor of Moogher and the surrounding Galla in the west, was also formerly very inimical to Shod, but being won over to the royal interests by the espousal of his sister, and by the conferment of extensive power, with the hand of one of the princesses royal, he was four years since converted to Christianity, when the king became his sponsor. The valuable presents which he is enabled to make to the throne, owing to his proximity to the high caravan road from the interior, preserve him a distinguished place in the estimation of the Negoos, than whom he is little inferior in point of state. At constant war with the Galla occupying the country to the westward between Sublala Mooghur and Gojam, he hastily assembles his troops twice or thrice during the year, and making eagle-like descents across the Nile, at the head of ten thousand cavalry, rarely fails to recruit the royal herds with a rich harvest of cattle.

"Domo, who resides in the mountains of Yerrur, was educated in the palace, and

his undeviating attachment to the crown has been rewarded with the hand of one of the king's illegitimate daughters. Botu, Shambo, and Domo, are the sons of Bunnie, whose father, Borri, governed the entire tract styled Ghera Meder, the country on the left, which includes all the Galla tribes bordering on both sides of the Hawash, in the South of Shoa. Bunnie was, in consequence of some transgression, imprisoned in Aramba, and Botora, another potent Galla chieftain, appointed in his stead; but this impolitic transfer of power creating inveterate hatred between the two families, each strove to destroy the other. Bunnie was in consequence liberated, and restored to his government, but resting incautiously under a tree on his return not long afterwards from a successful expedition against the Drusi, whom he had defeated, he was suddenly surrounded by the enemy, and slain, together with four chiefs, his confederates, and nearly the whole of his followers. His sons were then severally invested with governments, and Boku, the son of Botora, was, at his father's demise, entrusted with the preservation of the avenues to the lake Zosai, long an object of the royal ambition.

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Among the most powerful Galla chieftains who own allegiance to Shoa is Jara, the son of Chamme, soi-disant Queen of Woolopalada, who, since the demise of her husband, has governed that and other provinces adjacent. Sahela Selassie, who it will be seen relies more upon political marriages than upon the force of arms, sent matrimonial overtures to this lady, and received for answer the haughty message, that if he would spread the entire road from Angollallah with rich carpets, she might perhaps listen to the proposal, but upon no other conditions.' The Christian lances poured over the land to avenge this insult, and the invaded tribe laid down their arms; but Gobana, fosterbrother to Jara, and a mighty man of renown, finding that his majesty proposed burning their hamlets without reservation, rose to oppose the measure. At this critical moment an Amhara trumpeter raised his trombone to his lips. The Galla, believing the instrument to be none other than a musket, fled in consternation, and their doughty chieftain surrendered himself a prisoner at discretion.

"Upon hearing to whom he had relinquished his liberty, Gobana, almost broken-hearted, abandoned himself to despair, and refused all sustenance for many days. The hand of the fair daughter of the queen was eventually the price of his ransom, and on the celebration of the nuptials, the king, who with reference to his conquest of Mootofalada might have exclaimed with the Roman dictator, veni, vidi,vici, conferred upon Ihara

the government of all the subjugated Galla as far as the sources of the Hawash, and to the Nile in the West."

With his admirable notice of some of the superstitions of the Galla people, we conclude:

"Two great annual sacrifices are made to the deities Ogli and Aléti, the former between June and July, the latter in the beginning of September. A number of goats having been slain, the lubah, or priest, wearing a tuft of long hair on his crown, proceeds with a bell in his hand, and his brows encircled by a fillet of copper, to divine from the caul and entrails whether or not success will attend the warriors in battle. This point determined by the soothsayer, the assembled multitude, howling and screaming like demons, continue to surfeit themselves with raw meat, to swallow beer, and to inhale smoke to intoxication until midnight; invoking Wak, the supreme being, to grant numerous progeny, lengthened years, and abundant crops, as well as to cause their spears to prevail over those of their foes; and when sacrificing to the goddess Aleti, exclaiming frequently, Lady, we commit ourselves unto thee, stay thou with us always.'

"In Enarea, notwithstanding the conversion to Mahomedanism of so large a portion of the population, sacrifices are still made to Wak on the festival of Hedar Michael, which, together with the sabbath, is strictly observed by all the Galla tribes. The Ooda is at Betcho, and under its sacred shade all priests are ordained, even the followers of the prophet placing blood upon it as a superstitious oblation. Thousands upon thousands of the heathens having assembled, the lubah sprinkles over the crowd first beer, then an amalgamation of unroasted coffee and butter, and lastly flour and butter mixed in a separate mess. A white-coloured bull is then slaughtered, and its blood scattered abroad to complete the ceremonies; which are followed by eating, drinking, and drunken

ness.

"The kalicha is the Galla physician, and armed with a bell and copper whip, his skill in the expulsion of the devil is rarely known to fail. A serpent is profitable; and the patient rubbed with butter, fumigated with potent herbs, and exorcised, a few strokes of the whip being administered, until the cure is perfected. No Amhara will slay either a lubah or a kalicha under any circumstances, from a superstitious dread of their dying curse; and Galla sorceresses are frequently called in by the Christians of Shoa, to transfer sickness, or to rid the house of evil spirits by cabalistic incantations, performed with the blood of ginger-coloured hens, and red goats.

"But among the Galla sorceries and

soothsayers the Wato, inhabiting the mountain Dalacha, near the sources of the Hawash, are the most universally celebrated. Neither Pagan nor Christian will molest this tribe, froin superstitious apprehension entertained of their malediction, and from a desire to obtain their blessing; whilst he who receives the protection of a Wato, may travel with perfect security over every part of the country inhabited by the Galla. The nuptials of Woosen Suggud having been blessed by one of these magicians after the queen had been many years barren, the prediction was speedily verified in the person of Sahela Solasie; and his majesty, holding himself un der a lasting debt of gratitude, has never attempted the subjugation of these dwellers on the hill-top, although his conquests have extended far beyond their dominions. "Subsisting entirely by the chase, they wander from lake to lake, and from river to river, destroying the hippopotamus, upon the flesh of which they chiefly live, whereas no other heathen will touch it. Feared and respected, and claiming to themselves the original stock of the Orome nation, they deem all other clans unclean, from having mixed with Mahomedans and Christians; and refusing on this account to intermarry, remain to this day a separate and distinct people.

"All barbarians are orators, and the euphoneous language of the Galla, which unfortunately can boast of no written character, is admirably adapted to embellish their eloquent and impressive delivery. Cradled in the unexplored heights of Ethiopia, many of the customs of these fierce, illiterate idolators are closely and remarkably allied to those of the more civilized nations of antiquity. Seeking presages, like the Romans and Etrurians, in the flight of birds, and in the entrails of slaughtered sacrifices-wearing the hair braided like the ancient Egyptians, and like them sleeping with the head supported by a wooden crutch-wedding the relict of a deceased brother according to the Mosaic dispensation, and bowing the knee to the old serpent-an acquaintance with these wild invaders suggests to the speculations of curiosity novel proofs of their origin when referred to a common parent; nor are these a little enhanced by the exist. ence of a prophecy that their herds are one day to quit the highlands of their usurpation, and march into the east and to the north to conquer the inheritance of their Jewish ancestors."

Major Harris is the celebrated traveller who has recently returned from Abyssinia with a costly collection of presents for her Majesty, from the reigning King of Shoa, to whom Major Harris had been accredited on a diplomatic mission by the British Government.

QUINTIN MATSYS' PICTURE AT WINDSOR CASTLE, ERRONEOUSLY TERMED "THE MISERS." Ir is a matter of astonishment that the celebrated painting by Quintin Matsys in the Royal Gallery at Windsor should have been designated "The Misers; " for there is not one trait in the tableau to warrant it

having such an appellation, the principal figures being intended to represent two "collectors of the gabel; ""** or, as we should call them in England, tax-col. lectors, or money-lenders. Indeed, every part of the picture clearly evidences that it is not the domicile of the miser. The rich pearl suspended from the velvet cap of one of the worthies, and the fur bordering of his gown; the splendid ring on the finger; the table strewed with money, jewels, and other treasures; the well-fed parrot on its perch; the unclosed door; and the thick candle on the shelf, are not to be met with in the habitation of the miser; for his home is more gloomy than a prison. About his house all is silence and gloom; it has never heard the voice of joy-it is inert-it opens and shuts, and that is all-cold, empty, dead, silent, joyless, emotionless: it has a cursed hearth, which a spark never cheers-a fearful threshold, over which the very beggar dares not stretch his hand lest it should wither-a famished table, at which the wretched miser sits pining with want, yet gazing on his gold, the darling god of his idolatry.'

Again: who ever saw or read of one of these miserable creatures allowing a brother miser to loll familiarly over his shoulder whilst engaged in writing, thus having his watchful and ever suspicious attention drawn from the wealth carelessly spread on the table, as shown in Matsys' picture. Misers never herd together; they delight not in man or woman either; the friendship of the one, or the love of the other, are equally disregarded by them. They are themselvcs alone; the height of their happiness con

impost, which, in former times, pressed with into*The word comes from the French gabelle, an lerable severity on the poorer classes. In France it was imposed on salt, and where, previous to the revolution in 1789, all persons were obliged to pay a certain sum for that useful production, whether they used it or not. Whilst in other countries, Naples for instance, it was laid on all butchers meat, oil, wine, tobacco, and, indeed, on everything that could be eaten, drank, or worn by the labouring classes; and there would have been one on fruit, had not Masaniello's rebellion prevented it. The food for the nobles, such as fowls, &c., were free from tax. These gabels were most of them mono

polized by wealthy money-lenders, who, having advanced sums to government, were allowed to collect the various gabels until the principal and interest of the monies owing were repaid. It has evidently been the intention of the 'Blacksmith of Antwerp' in the above painting to represent two of these usurers settling their accounts.

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