After Having Borne All Sorts Of Affronts And Ill-Treatments, We
Retired To Our House At Fremona, In The Midst
Of our countrymen, who
had been settling round about us a long time, imagining we should be
more secure there,
And that, at least during the life of the
Emperor, they would not come to extremities, or proceed to open
force. I laid some stress upon the kindness which the viceroy of
Tigre had shown to us, and in particular to me; but was soon
convinced that those hopes had no real foundation, for he was one of
the most violent of our persecutors. He seized upon all our lands,
and, advancing with his troops to Fremona, blocked up the town. The
army had not been stationed there long before they committed all
sorts of disorders; so that one day a Portuguese, provoked beyond
his temper at the insolence of some of them, went out with his four
sons, and, wounding several of them, forced the rest back to their
camp.
We thought we had good reason to apprehend an attack; their troops
were increasing, our town was surrounded, and on the point of being
forced. Our Portuguese therefore thought that, without staying till
the last extremities, they might lawfully repel one violence by
another, and sallying out to the number of fifty, wounded about
three score of the Abyssins, and had put them to the sword but that
they feared it might bring too great an odium upon our cause. The
Portuguese were some of them wounded, but happily none died on
either side.
Though the times were by no means favourable to us, every one blamed
the conduct of the viceroy; and those who did not commend our action
made the necessity we were reduced to of self-defence an excuse for
it. The viceroy's principal design was to get my person into his
possession, imagining that if I was once in his power, all the
Portuguese would pay him a blind obedience. Having been
unsuccessful in his attempt by open force, he made use of the arts
of negotiation, but with an event not more to his satisfaction.
This viceroy being recalled, a son-in-law of the Emperor's
succeeded, who treated us even worse than his predecessor had done.
When he entered upon his command, he loaded us with kindnesses,
giving us so many assurances of his protection that, while the
Emperor lived, we thought him one of our friends; but no sooner was
our protector dead than this man pulled off his mask, and, quitting
all shame, let us see that neither the fear of God nor any other
consideration was capable of restraining him when we were to be
distressed. The persecution then becoming general, there was no
longer any place of security for us in Abyssinia, where we were
looked upon by all as the authors of all the civil commotions, and
many councils were held to determine in what manner they should
dispose of us.
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