p. 90. Ludolph. Hist. and Comment. l. iii. c.
l.)]

[Footnote 161: The three Protestant historians, Ludolphus, (Hist.
Aethiopica, Francofurt. 1681; Commentarius, 1691; Relatio Nova, &c.,
1693, in folio,) Geddes, (Church History of Aethiopia, London, 1696, in
8vo..) and La Croze, (Hist. du Christianisme d'Ethiopie et d'Armenie,
La Haye, 1739, in 12mo.,) have drawn their principal materials from the
Jesuits, especially from the General History of Tellez, published in
Portuguese at Coimbra, 1660. We might be surprised at their frankness;
but their most flagitious vice, the spirit of persecution, was in their
eyes the most meritorious virtue. Ludolphus possessed some, though
a slight, advantage from the Aethiopic language, and the personal
conversation of Gregory, a free-spirited Abyssinian priest, whom
he invited from Rome to the court of Saxe-Gotha. See the Theologia
Aethiopica of Gregory, in (Fabric. Lux Evangelii, p. 716--734.) *
Note: The travels of Bruce, illustrated by those of Mr. Salt, and the
narrative of Nathaniel Pearce, have brought us again acquainted with
this remote region. Whatever may be their speculative opinions the
barbarous manners of the Ethiopians seem to be gaining more and more the
ascendency over the practice of Christianity.--M.]

Chapter XLVIII: Succession And Characters Of The Greek Emperors.--Part I.

Plan Of The Two Last Volumes.--Succession And Characters Of
The Greek Emperors Of Constantinople, From The Time Of
Heraclius To The Latin Conquest.

I have now deduced from Trajan to Constantine, from Constantine to
Heraclius, the regular series of the Roman emperors; and faithfully
exposed the prosperous and adverse fortunes of their reigns. Five
centuries of the decline and fall of the empire have already elapsed;
but a period of more than eight hundred years still separates me from
the term of my labors, the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. Should
I persevere in the same course, should I observe the same measure, a
prolix and slender thread would be spun through many a volume, nor would
the patient reader find an adequate reward of instruction or amusement.
At every step, as we sink deeper in the decline and fall of the
Eastern empire, the annals of each succeeding reign would impose a more
ungrateful and melancholy task. These annals must continue to repeat a
tedious and uniform tale of weakness and misery; the natural connection
of causes and events would be