25. Of all the systems of Christianity, that of Abyssinia is
the only one which still adheres to the Mosaic rites
(Geddes's Church History of Ethiopia, and Dissertations de
La Grand sur la Relation du P. Lobo). The eunuch of the
queen Candace might suggest some suspicions; but as we are
assured (Socrates, i. 19; Sozomen, ii. 24; Ludolphus, p.
281) that the AEthiopians were not converted till the fourth
century, it is more reasonable to believe that they
respected the sabbath and distinguished the forbidden meats,
in imitation of the Jews, who, in a very early period, were
seated on both sides of the Red Sea. Circumcision had been
practised by the most ancient Ethiopians from motives of
health and cleanliness, which seem to be explained in the
Recherches Philosophiques sur les Americains, tom. ii. p.
117.