Clergy and the people; and this division prevented them from co-operating in the execution of any plan for the good of the whole. I was able, however, with the aid of the Ramban Joseph, a man eminent for piety and zeal, to make arrangements for erecting a College at Cotym, a central situation, for the education of the Clergy, and Syrian Youths in general. The death of the Bishop, and the elevation of the Ramban to his office, removed some of the impediments that had opposed the measures which appeared to be requisite for the general melioration of the Syrian Community. But the assistance of intermediate agents was essentially necessary to the success of those measures; for the Syrians themselves were lamentably deficient in knowledge, energy, and ability. The arrival of two respectable Missionaries, Messrs. Bailey and Norton, supplied the want to which I have adverted; and Mr. Bailey was attached to the College, with the fullest approbation of the Bishop and the whole of the Syrians. The Bishop Joseph, worne out with age and abstinence, lived long enough only to afford the warmest testimonies of satisfaction and joy at the improvement of his Church: and he has been succeeded in office by two Bishops, Mar Philoxenus and Mar George, the former being too infirm to discharge alone the duties of his office. Mr. Bailey, in strict and most confidential union with the Bishop, has proceeded to carry into gradual effect some of the arrangements requisite for the improvement of the Syrian Church. The Scriptures have been nearly translated from the Syrian into the Malayalim Language, principally at the expense of the Calcutta Bible Society. A plan for the education of the Clergy and the course of discipline and instruction to be observed at the College, has been established. The Syrian Clergy have been encou raged to marry; and three have availed themselves of the offer. Information of the errors and abuses, the remnants of Popery, still existing in the several Churches, has been gradually acquired, with a view to the progressive reformation of those evils at a proper season: and a mutual solicitude is displayed, in the most cordial and affectionate manner, by Mr. Bailey and the principal Syrian Clergy, to advance the re-establishment of Divine Worship among them, in strict conformity to the Scriptures. In several conferences which I had with the Bishop and Syrian Clergy, during a visit which I made to Cotym in December last, they expressed with warmth their satisfaction and gra titude, at the course of measures adopted to enlighten and restore the Syrian Church. The temporal situation of the Sy. rians has also been materially im proved. I have frequently taken occasion to bring them to the notice of her Highness the Rannee of Travancore; and her intelligent, liberal, and ingenuous mind has always ap peared to feel a deep interest in their history, misfortunes, and character. She is aware of the attention excited to their situation in Europe; and her anxiety to manifest the sincerity of her attachment to the British Nation has formed, I believe, an additional motive for the kindness and generosity which she has uniformly displayed toward the Syrians. She has appointed a considerable number of them to Public Offices; and lately presented the sum of 20,000 rupees to the College of Cotym, as an endowment for its support. The Syrians are most grateful for her goodness and cherish, in no ordinary degree, the sentiments of affection and respect toward her person, that are entertained by every class of her subjects. But the liberal protection and sup port of the British Government is essentially requisite, for the restoration and prosperity of the Syrian Church and Community. The donation of Her Highness the Rannee, when vested in the purchase of land, will provide for the maintenance of the College; but a separate provision is indispensably necessary for the support of the Parochial Clergy, officiating at the several Churches. They derive, at present, a precarious and inadequate support from contributions, in themselves exceedingly objectionable, and paid with considerable difficulty by the people. The abolition of these contributions, a measure indispensable to the reformation of the Church, would deprive the Clergy of subsistence, and there is no other local means of providing for their maintenance. The accompanying Report from Mr. Bailey describes the present mode of supporting the Syrian Clergy; and shews that a separate allowance of fifteen or twenty rupees per month, for each Church, would be fully sufficient for the maintenance of its Ministers, and would admit of the discontinuance of the system of contributions which is, in many points of view, a Roman-Catholic usage. A more approved and legitimate mode of maintaining the Clergy by their parishioners might certainly be devised; but the poverty of the Syrians disables them from bearing the expense of a direct assessment for that purpose. If the liberality of the British Government should supply an allowance of twenty rupees per month for every Syrian Church, the expense would little exceed 1000 rupees-a sum considerably less than the salaries of two Military Chaplains; and an important benefit would be thereby derived to the public interests, from the prosperity, gratitude, and permanent at It was not thought necessary to print Mr. Bailey's Report here. tachment of a respectable body of people. That allowance, or at most a very small increase of it, would also admit of the maintenance of a Parish School, for the instruction of Children, at every Church-an arrangement of the utmost utility to the general improvement of the Syrians; and, combined with the College, sufficient to provide for the complete education both of the Clergy and Laity. The These measures would soon restore the Syrians to the high station which they formerly occupied. Education and knowledge would advance their industry and exertions; and the British Government would receive, in their grateful and devoted attachment on every emergency, the reward due to its benevolence and wisdom. Other advantages would also occur. Roman Catholics, and especially the Syrian Communities still united to them, would be induced, by the great melioration of the religious and temporal state of the Syrians, to join them; and, in the course of a few years, the conversion to the Protestant Religion of the greatest portion of the Roman Catholics on this coast, would take place. It may be useful to direct the attention of the Resident to these views; and to authorise the mild exercise of his influence, in persuading the Syrian Congregations still connected with the Roman-Catholic Church to rejoin their ancient brethren, the proper Syrians. The English Missionaries, recently arrived in Travancore, have behaved with prudence, and are respected and loved by the people; and the further resort of respectable Missionaries to that country will be productive of eminent advantage. A careful observation of the people of India leads me to expect, that the Protestant Religion will make a rapid progress among them. No rational man will change his religion, excepting from forcible reasons; and the pageantry, idolatrous appearances, and extraordinary mysteries of the RomanCatholic Faith, are calculated to revolt a mind, already disgusted and disposed to change by the idolatries and incongruities of the Hindoo Worship. The Natives of India still retain an admiration of excellence, and a high veneration for virtue and sanctity: and the purity of morals, sublimity of doctrine, and extraordinary adaptation to the condition of mankind, of the Protestant Religion, are eminently calculated, when understood and when their effects are seen, to engage converts. The small Protestant Community formed by Mr. Ringletaube in the South of Travancore, although still in a state of infancy, is extremely respected. Its neophytes are called the Vadahars, or Persons of the Book; and it receives more proselytes than all the other sects of Christianity in Travancore. The British Nation possesses, in the facility of diffusing knowledge, important means of extending the Protestant Religion; and a moderate degree of encouragement, by the Government, will essentially contribute to the furtherance of that end. Travancore, the means are already prepared; and little difficulty will be found, in directing their application to the most salutary and important purposes. Nor are those endeavours likely to encounter opposition from the PEOPLE. Some learned Brahmins, with whom I have conversed on religious topics, have repeated verses from the Vedas and Shasters, inculcating the most absolute toleration of all religions; and have affirmed that the free exercise of any religion whatever can be impeded only by the jealousy and passions of Princes: and I quote their opinions, because they correspond with all the results of my own observation. I forward, herewith, Reports which I received, in 1813, from the principal Ecclesiastical Authorities in Travancore, in answer to Queries circulated to them. I regret that the translations of them, made by Native Writers, are extremely inaccurate; and that I have been prevented, by an earlier departure from Travancore than I had anticipated, from correcting and enlarging the documents. I have the honour to be, Sir, ABSTRACT OF AN ADDRESS, BY THE REV. JOSEPH FENN, IN AN ASSEMBLY OF THE CATANARS AND ELDERS OF THE SYRIAN CHURCH, HELD AT MAUVELLICARRE, ON THE THIRD OF DECEMBER, 1818. (See Page 175.) This Assembly was convened by the Metropolitan, in order that such matters might be brought before it, as had been frequent subjects of Friendly conference between him and the Missionaries; the Metropolitan imself presiding on the occasion. Such parts of the Address are here printed, as tend to throw light on the state of the Syrian Church, and the best measures for its revival. THE first subject which we would ring before you is, the IMPORTANCE OF UNION AMONG YOURSELVES. Living, as you do, under a Heathen Government, surrounded on all sides by the votaries of Idolatry, the worshippers of Mahomet, or the Members of the Church of Rome, it is manifest, that, if you are disunited among yourselves, you will sink before the baneful influence of the pernicious tenets and practices maintained and promulgated around you. Union is secured by due subordination a subordination governed by known and just laws. In Spiritual Concerns, the Laity are to submit to the instructions of the Clergy-under the General Rule: That, in every dubious matter, the submission must be unlimited, in matters plainly provided for by Scripture, only so far as there is a consonance between the Instructions of the Clergy, and the Rule by which such instructions must be framed, the Word of God. The reason of this General Rule is obvious. All matters which are left undecided by Scripture, are of comparative unimportance in such cases, union is of the first value; and the safest rule of union is, the supposition that the opinion of the Clergy is right: but as to matters clearly laid down and decided in Holy Scripture, all opinions must bow to the authority of God. In your Church are different Degrees or Orders of Clergy, and the subordination of the Inferior Clergy to their Superiors must proceed on the general Rule here laid down. But it is of first importance, that the Orders of Clergy admitted in your Church, with the different duties and privileges incident to each Order, should be clearly ascertained and justly discriminated. By the Scripture institution of Elders attached to each Church, the Clergy are exempted from all temporal concerns; and can give, as is their duty and privilege, the whole of their time and attention to prayer and the Ministry of the Word. It will be proper that the duties of the Elders be defined and declared to them. It will be well to consider whether the Syrians are more or less numerous than when the existing Orders of the Clergy were established, and whether an alteration in the number is necessary. Another subject of great importance, is the PRESENT STATE OF YOUR RITUAL. So long a period has elapsed since any revision of your Ritual was made, that, it is to be feared, there is a considerable departure from that uniformity, which is at once the stability and beauty of a Church. There can be no doubt but that different prac tices obtain in different Churches; some of which, as we have witnessed, are highly derogatory to the honour of God, very dissonant from His commands, and, we believe, not sanc tioned by the Canons of your Church, It cannot reasonably be expected that you have entirely escaped the baneful influence of surrounding error and superstition; and we doubt not that many of your present rites and practices will prove to be imitations and modifications of similar practices among the Heathen. It must at least be granted, that it is of great importance to define the Ceremonies of Worship of your Church, and to ascertain in what instances they depart from the positive command of the Lord Jesus Christ, or the spirit of Ilis religion. In every act of worship, regard must be had to Him, who is the alone object of adoration and confidence. The First Command, Thou shalt have mone other Gods but me-explained as it is by the reply of our Saviour to the Tempter, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve— connected with the passage which declares that there is but One God, and also that there is one only Mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ Jesusprohibits us from paying any regard whatever, in our worship, to any but the one Triune Jehovah. Any prayer, wow, act of adoration, praise, or confidence in matters purely spiritual, directed to any other, is idolatry in the sight of God. In matters of this kind, every creature stands on the same level; and it is equally displeasing to God, whether we worship the Virgin Mary, or any beast, or creeping thing, or idol of wood or stone. It is a remarkable incident in the life of our Saviour, and seems recorded on purpose to refute the vain conceit, that the Virgin Mary, as the instrument employed by God for preparing for the Son a body, was the object of religious trust or worship, that, when it was told Him, and my brethren! for whosoever shal di the will of my Father who is in hearn, the same is my brother, and sister, sal mother. We adjure you then, by the Living God, and by His Son Jesus Christ our Saviour, that you henceforth abstain from every act of worship to any but to the God who made, redeemed, and sanctifies you. In Him, and Him alone, are power to protect you, på tience to bear with you, love to listen to and to grant all your petitions, and wisdom to direct you. You will follow out these hints; and inquire, whether connecting any living or deceased individual with any act of worship, in the way of commendation or otherwise, is not dangerous. Nothing strikes the mind more forc bly, in the perusal of the Old Tes tament, than the jealousy manifested by God; and, situated as you are in a Heathen Land, there is a peculiar force in the commands and injunctions with which that part of the Sacred Volume abounds. Your doctrines, your ceremonies, your habits, every thing about you, should proclaim, There is but One God, and one Mediator between God and Man. It demands instant inquiry, WHE THER THE ENDS PROPOSED BY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, IN THE ESTA BLISHMENT OF A PRIESTHOOD AND THE INSTITUTION OF PUBLIC WORSHIP, ARE SECURED IN YOUR CHURCH. will not be favourable that it will We fear that, on inquiry, the result instruction, either from the Ministra be found, that the people derive no or the Public Ser tions of the Clergy vices of the Church. With regard to the Ministrations of the Clergy, they and as to the Public Services of the are, in most places, fallen into disuse; Church, it is agreed, on all hands, that that His Mother and His Brethren the language, in which the Services stood without, desiring to speak with are performed, is not known to the him, Ile said, Who is my Mother, and people. It will be a matter worthy of who are my Brethren? and, turning to inquiry, when the Syriac Language was first introduced into the Church; His disciples, He said, Behold my mother |