ally resides at Quilon. There are very few European clergy, (not above seven or eight,) under the three jurisdictions, and none of them men of education; and it cannot be expected that the native priests, who have been educated at Goa, or at the seminary at Verapoli, should know much beyond their missals and rituals. The Latin communicants, in the diocese of Verapoli, are estimated at 35,000.-The catechuman suffers no persecution on account of his religion, when once converted; but the country governments are excessively jealous upon this point, and do their utmost to discountenance any conversion. 15

"The converts are from various casts, viz. Chegas or Teers,-Muckwas and Pullers; and there can be no doubt but that many of higher casts would be baptized, if they did not dread the displeasure of their govern

ments.

It is well known that the Roman religion was introduced by the Portuguese, at the commencement of the sixteenth century; the number converted in each year, upon an average, reach to nearly 300-the number, of course, naturally diminishes. The morality of the converts is very loose; and they are generally inferior in this respect to the heathens of the country."

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

"Reflecting on the whole subject, several suggestions present them. selves to my mind; and I shall not be considered as deviating from the line of my profession, or the intention of your Lordship, in calling for my Report, by offering some opinions to government, which in a moral and political view, seem of the highest importance. It appears, from the foregoing statement, that pure christianity is far, very far, from being a religion for which the highest cast of Hindoos have any disrespect; and that it' is the abuse of the christian name, under the form of the Romish religion, to which they are averse. We have, my Lord, been sadly defective in what we owed to God and man, since we have had a footing in this coun try, as well by departing most shamefully from our christian profession ourselves, as in withholding those sources of moral perfection from the na tives, which true christianity alone can establish; and, at the same time, we have allowed the Romanists to steal into our territories, to occupy the ground we have neglected to cultivate, and to bring an odium on our pure and honourable name as christians. The evil would be less, were it not well known that many of the Romish priests, and their people, who have thus been allowed to grow numerous under our authority, are supposed to be far from well affected to the government under which they reside; indeed, in many instances, the Roman clergy are the natural subjects of nations at enmity with ourselves, at the same time that they are eminently qualified by their influence in their profession, to do us the greatest mischief, by spreading disaffection throughout every part of the extended country. The Roman Catholic religion, my Lord, I believe I may say, without offence to truth or charity, has almost always been made a political engine in the hands of its governments; and we must be blinded indeed, by our own confidence, if we do not calculate on its being so used in this great and rich country, where it has established a footing

amongst an ignorant people; especially when it is so well understood that our eastern possessions have been a subject of the greatest jealousy to all the rival nations of Europe. In my humble opinion, my Lord, the error has been in not having long ago established free* schools throughout every part of this country, by which the children of the natives might have learned our language, and got acquainted with our morality. Such an establishment would, ere this, have made the people at large fully acquainted with the divine spring, from whence alone British virtue must be acknowledged to flow. This would have made them better acquainted with the principles by which we are governed: they would have learned to respect our laws, to honour our feelings, and to follow our maxims: whereas they appear to me, generally speaking, at this moment, as ignorant of their mas ters as on their first landing on these shores. I speak not of interfering with their religious prejudices, or endeavouring to convert the natives by an extraordinary effort on the part of the British government. Conversion, in my opinion, must be the consequence which would naturally flow from our attention to their moral instruction, and their more intimate acquaintance with the English character.

“I do not mention this as an experiment, the result of which might be considered as problematical: the experiment has been already made, and the consequences have proved commensurate with the highest expectation which reasonable men could entertain. The Danish mission, united with the Society for propagating the Gospel, have sent some good men into this country, with the laudable view of spreading true christianity throughout our Eastern possessions; and the names of Swartz, Gerrické, and others, will ever be remembered by numbers of our Asiatic subjects, of every cast and description, with veneration and affection: and there are happily still living some amongst us of the same character,

"It is true, that the object they had more particularly in view, has in some measure failed: and few good converts, it is generally imagined, have been made; but let it be remembered also, that they have laboured under every possible disadvantage; they have scarcely enjoyed a mere toleration under our governnient, and received no kind of assistance whatsoever; that they were few in number, and perhaps I may say, without injustice, that they erred, (as the best might err,) in the means which they adopted; but that they have done much good by the purity of their lives, and by their zeal in spreading instruction. This will admit of no denial;

To give English morals to the natives in their purity, we must, I imägine, make them read English books. Translations have hitherto been very defective in the different country languages; besides, they must be extremely circumscribed in number. I do not think the natives will come to us freely but to learn English. This they consider as the key to fortune; and, on the coast, the most strict of the Bramins will have little hesitation, as far as I can learn, in permitting their children to attend a free school for the purpose of learning it; for they despise us too much to suppose there is any danger of overturning the principles of Braminism. But their ill founded, ridiculous principles must be shaken to the very foundation, by the communication of such libeal knowledge as a Christian can instill into the minds of youth, and fix there by means of English books; and all this without making any alarming attack directly on the religion of the Hindoos.

and I doubt not that I may say, without the danger of contradiction, that few and poor as these men have been, without authority or power to support them, a greater and more extended portion of heart-felt respect for the European character has been diffused by their means throughout this country, than by all the other Europeans put together. We have, in my humble opinion, my Lord, kept ourselves too far from the natives; we have despised their ignorance, without attempting to remove it-and we have considered their timidity, (the natural result of their being trampled upon by one race of conquerors after another,) also as an object for our contempt; at the same time, that we have viewed the cunning of their character, (which is ever the natural resource of ignorance and weakness,) as the completion of all that is vile and deceitful.-Thus have we continued a system of neglect towards the interests of our native subjects, in points the most essential to their every happiness, throughout the whole of our governments in this country. Fain, my Lord, would I see a change in this particular; and I seize the opportunity which the present moment affords, to press the justice and the policy of the measure on the attention of your Lordship's government.

Having the honour to remain, with the highest respect, my Lord,
Your Lordship's faithful and obedient humble servant,

"Madras, Nov. S, 1806."

(Signed) R. H. KERR. Senior chaplain of Fort St. George.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

"The Rev. Dr. Buchanan, who left Bengal some months ago, with the view of proceeding to Travancore, to inquire into the state of the Syrian christians, arrived in that country about the beginning of November last, having travelled from Calcutta to cape Comorin by land. His highness the Rajah of Travancore was pleased to afford to Dr. Buchanan the most liberal assistance in the prosecution of his inquiries. About the middle of November, Dr. Buchanan proceeded from the sea-coast into the interior of the country, North-east from Quilon, to visit the ancient Syrian churches, situated amongst the low hills at the bottom of the high Ghauts, which divide the Carnatic from Malayala. The face of the country in general, in the vicinity of the mountains, exhibits a varied scene of hill and dale, and winding streams. These streams fall from the mountains, and preserve the vallies in perpetual verdure. The woods produce pepper, cardamoms, and cassia, or wild cinnamon; also frankincense and other aromatic gums. What adds much to the grandeur of the scenery in this country is, that the adjacent mountains of Travancore are not barren, but are covered with teak forests, producing the largest timber in the world.

"The first view of the christian churches, in this sequestered region of Hindostan, connected with the idea of their tranquil duration for so many ages, cannot fail to excite pleasing emotions in the mind of the beholder. The form of the oldest buildings is not unlike that of some of the old parish churches in England; the style of building in both being of Saracenic origin. They have sloping roofs, pointed arch windows, and buttresses supporting the walls. The beams of the roof being exposed to

view, are ornamented; and the ceiling of the choir and altar is circular and fretted. In the cathedral churches, the shrines of the deceased bishops are placed on each side of the altar. Most of the churches are built of a reddish stone, squared and polished at the quarry; and are of durable construction, the front wall of the largest edifices being six feet thick. The bells of the churches are cast in the founderies of Travancore. Some of them are of large dimensions: and have inscriptions in Syriac and Malayalim. In approaching a town in the evening, the sound of the bells may be heard at a distance amongst the hills; a circumstance which causes the British traveller to forget for a moment that he is in Hindostan, and reminds him of another country. When Dr. Buchanan arrived at the remote churches, he was informed by the inhabitants that no European had to their knowledge, visited the place before. The Romish priests do not travel thither, there being no church of their communion in that quarter.

"The number of Syrian churches is greater than has been supposed. There are at this time, fifty-five churches in Malayala*, acknowledging the Patriarch of Antioch. The church was erected by the present bishop, in 1793.

"The Syrian christians are not Nestorians. Formerly, indeed, they had bishops of that communion; but the liturgy of the present church is derived from that of the early church of Antioch, called Liturgia Jacobi Apostoli. They are usually denominated Facobitæ; but they differ in ceremonial from the church of that name in Syria, and indeed from any existing church in the world. Their proper designation, and that which is sanctioned by their own use, is Syrian Christians, or The Syrian church of Malayala.

"That an

"The doctrines of the Syrian church are contained in a very few articles; and are not at variance, in essentials, with the doctrines of the church of England. Their bishops and metropolitan, after conferring with his clergy on the subject, delivered the following opinion: union with the English church, or at least such a connexion as should appear to both churches practicable and expedient, would be a happy event, and favourable to the advancement of religion." It is in contemplation to send to England some of the Syrian youth, for education and ordination.

"The present bishop, Mar Dionysius, is a native of Malayala, but of Syrian extraction. He is a man of respectable character in his nation, and exercises himself in the pious discharge of the duties of his high office He is now 78 years of age, and possesses a venerable aspect, his white beard descending low to his girdle. On public occasions he wears the Episcopal mitre; and is robed in a white vestment, which covers long garments of red silk; and in his hand he holds the pastoral staff. The first native bishop was ordained by the Romish church in 1663: but he

* Malayala comprehends the mountains, and the whole region within them, from Cape Comorin to Cape Eli, whereas, the province of Malabar, commonly so called, contains only the Northern Districts; not including the country of Travancore.

F

was of the Romish communion.

Since that period, the old Syrians

have continued, till lately, to receive their bishops from Antioch; but that ancient patriarchate being now nearly extinct, and incompetent to the appointment of learned men, the Christian church in Malayala looks henceforth to Britain for the continuance of that light which has shone so long in this dark region of the world.

From information given by the Syrian Christians, it would appear that the churches of Mesopotamia and Syria, (215 in number,) with which they are connected, are struggling with great difficulties, and merely owe their existence to some deference for their antiquity; and that they might be expected soon to flourish again, if favoured with a little support. It would be worthy the church of England to aid the church of Antioch in her low estate. The church of England is now what the church of Antioch once was. The mode in which aid can be best afforded to christians under a foreign power in the East, is not chiefly by contributions of money, but by representing to those governments, with which we may have friendly intercourse, that these christians are of the same religion with ourselves; and that we are desirous that they should be respected. The argument, from the sameness of religion, is well understood by all Asiatic princes, and can never fail when seriously proposed; for they think it both natural and obligatory that every government should be interested in those who are of its own religion. There are two circumstances which invite us to turn our eyes to the country of "the first generations of men." The tolerant spirit of the Wahabian Mahometans, is a fair prognostic; and promises to aid our endeavours to restore to an ancient community of Christians, the blessings of knowledge and religious liberty. Another favourable circumstance is, that some of the churches in Mesopotamia, in one of which the Patriarch of Antioch now resides, are said still to remain in their pristine state, and to have preserved their archives and ancient manuscript libraries. A domestic priest of the Patriarch, now in Cochin, vouches for the truth of this fact. We know from authentic history, that the churches between the rivers escaped the general desolation of the Mahometan conquest, in the seventh century, by joining arms with the Mahometans against the Greek christians, who had been their oppressors. The revival of religion and letters in that once highly-favoured land, in the heart of the ancient world, would be, in the present circumstances of mankind, an auspicious

event.

"The Syrian christians in Malayala still use the Syriac language in their churches; but the Malayalim, or proper Malabar, (a dialect distinct from the Tamul,) is the vernacular tongue. They have made some attempts to translate the Syriac scriptures into Malayalim; but have not hitherto had the suitable means of effecting it. When a proposal was made of sending a Malayalim translation to each of their 55 churches, as a standard book, on condition that they would transcribe it, and circulate the copies among the people, the elder replied, That so great was the desire of the people in general, to have the Bible in the vulgar tongue, that it might be expected that every man who could write, would make a copy on ollas, (palm leaves,) for his own family.