EMPEROR OF ABYSSINIA

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 27

EMPEROR OF ABYSSINIA

LONDON, March 24. A Router's telegram says that Menelik, the Emperor of Abveshria. is dying At his imstarane the Empress was deposed, andKorder-ed to emit the palace. 'All the chief? have taken the oath of fidelity to the heir apparent. March 28. The Daily Telegraph's Paris correspondent mentions a rumour from a wellinformed private source that the EmperoT Menelik has been dead for several days. AN ANCIENT DYNASTY. No barbarian monarch of these days has bo much interest attached to him as Menelik, the dusky fighting chief of the Abyssinians. His pretensions are those of a lineal descendant of King Solomon, the all-wise, and the Queen of Sheba. Be this as it may, it is unquestionably err ancient dynasty, which has onbr once been disturbed by a Mussulman invasion. After the defeat and suicide of King Theodore in IP6B. when attacked by the British for murdering the envoys, Kassa of Tigre assumed the chief power as Johannes 11. Menelik defeated this pretender, but subsequently the two agreea to divide the kingdom. The reign of Johannes was brought to a sudden and tragic close by a Dervish bullet, and in 1889 Menelik, then 47 years of age. became Emperor. Menelik's defeat of the Italians crowned his reputation as a famous general, but he has proved in addition to be an able ruler and diplomat. _ Gifted with a marvellous memory and tireless energy, ne is said to transact all the affairs of State himself, having no Ministers, in the European sense. His habits are simple, and he administers justice from a throne, placed under a tree. Last year he had a stroke of paralysis, and since then lias been steadily Decerning

worse, and his menfal faculties have become impaired. Almost immediately after the seizure Menelik nominated his grandson, Prince Lidj Jeaesu, as his successor to the throne. The young prince is in his thirteenth year, and has many powerful supporters, but he vill not succeed his grandfather without a severe struggle. In May last tiie prince was married to Princess Romanie, granddaughter of the late Emperor Jonn. The bride is in her seventh year. The marriage was % political one, for it united four" of the most powerful families in the Abyssinian Empire. But the succession of the Prince will be violently opposed by the Empress Titu, who is at present in complete control of the Emperor's immediate surroundings.