Two such
characters as Theodore and himself are seldom met with at the same
time in those distant lands. Both ambitious, both proud, both
passionate, it was inevitable that sooner or later they must come
into collision, and the stronger crush the weaker.
Abyssinia had been for years without a bishop. Priests could no
more be consecrated, nor new churches dedicated to Christian worship,
as the ark could not contain the tabot blessed by the bishop of the
land. Ras Ali, although outwardly a Christian and belonging to a
converted family, had still too many connections amongst the Mussulman
Gallas, his true friends and supporters, to care for more than an
apparent profession of the State religion, and troubled himself
very little about the inconvenience to which the priesthood was
subjected by the long-continued vacancy of the bishopric.
Dejatch Oubie was at that time the semi-independent ruler of
Tigre. From the position of a simple governor he had gradually
risen to power, and now at the head of a large army strove for the
title of Ras. Though still on apparent terms of friendship with
Ras Ali, even to a certain degree acknowledging him as his superior,
he was all the while secretly exerting his influence to overthrow
the Ras's power in order to reign in his stead. For these reasons
he despatched some of his chiefs, with Monsignor de Jacobis, an
Italian nobleman and Roman Catholic bishop at Massowah, to Egypt,
to obtain a bishop for the Abyssinian see; [Footnote:
