descending spirally from the top to the bottom. After a short time he took off most of his robes, and kept on only the usual one of crimson silk. "He sat and conversed with us for about an hour; and confirmed me in the impression which I had before received of him-that of his being a gentleman and an humble Christian. He spoke in terms of warm gratitude of the benefits conferred on his people and himself, by the English nation; and more especially by the excellent Colonel Munro, who seems beloved by them all. He allowed, unreservedly, the state of wretched ignorance in which the Syrians are plunged: and since the arrival of the missionaries, he found, from his conversation with them, that he had every thing to learn-all was new to him. He appeared particularly pleased with the well-known saying, which I begged Mr. Fenn to explain to him, of our revered Sovereign, who wished that every man in his dominions "might be able to read his Bible, and have a Bible to read." When he at length retired, the three missionaries accompanied him to his palankeen, with the greatest respect and deference; by which, and similar means, they render him venerable in the eyes of his people, from the honour which the notice of Europeans in this country always confers. "March 2.-It was not without emotions of sorrow that I finally quitted this venerable man. He received me in his little bedroom; the furniture of which consisted simply of a bed, three chairs, a very small table, a wooden chest, and a brass lamp : from the canopy of his bed, some dresses of ceremony were hanging on a cord, and a very few books lay on the chest opposite the one small window. Besides this little room, he has one other, not much larger, which is nearly empty. Such i pictured to myself, the abode of an archbishop in the primitive ages of the church, before the progress of society and civilization had effected a corresponding change. "Our conversation was short, consisting mainly of mutual good wishes: but, before I went, he expressed a wish to have from England a print of George the Third; and entrusted me with a commission, with which I was happy to be charged, of conveying a copy of the printed New Testament in Syriac, with a few lines on the first_blank-leaf, in his own hand-writing, to the Patriarch of Antioch: and this I am to deliver personally, if possible, on my intended overland journey to Europe. We then parted. May our Heavenly Father bless him, and bestow on him a knowledge of the Sacred Volume, commensurate with his deep and unaffected humility and kindness! and may he become a light, burning and shining amid the spiritual darkness of this long-neglected offspring of the Church of Antioch! "March 6.-We reached Purovan. Here we met the principal malpan of the college of Cotym: he is an active, intelligent man; well versed, as Mr. Fenn assures me, in the Scriptures. He came to meet us from Mamelicherry, to which place he escorted us after breakfast, as he himself officiates as one of its catanars. On arriving at the landing-place (for all our visits to the Syrians are still made by water) we found that he meant to give us a sort of public reception. We were welcomed by a crowd of Syrians, with two or three most ancient matchlocks among them, which they fired on our landing; and a small troop of boys, armed with swords and shields, preceded us with a measured step, guided by a tune, which one sang and the others repeated in chorus, while their instructor in this Pyrrhic dance animated and encouraged them with conscious satisfaction. On arriving at a favourable spot of ground, we halted for a few minutes, while two of the boys, together with their master, performed some feats of activity, which were no ways remarkable. The dance was then resumed, and continued till we reached the church; on which half a dozen iron pots, filled with gunpowder, were discharged, and made about as much noise as those in St. James's Park. “I have mentioned these trifles mainly to give some faint idea of the customs of the natives; and, though we may esteem them somewhat ridiculous in themselves, and inconsistent with the grave reception due to a Christian minister, still we were gratified with the intention, and could not but be pleased with the evident and invariable good-will of this interesting people. "The following are the four main improvements which have been effected in the Syrian Church with general approbation, or at least without any dislike having been openly manifested: 1. The marriage of the clergy. 2. The removal of all images from the churches. 3. The reading a portion of the Scriptures, every Sunday, in the Malayalim. 4. The opening of schools attached to most of the churches. "These reforms may be safely considered as general in spirit, although, in fact, from the remoteness of some of the churches, and the short space of time which has elapsed since the reforms commenced, they cannot be yet said to be in universal operation in a very few more months, with God's blessing, I have no doubt they will be entirely so. "Among partial amendments may be reckoned, a decreasing estimation, in the eyes of the principal clergy, of pomp and ceremony; a desire, openly manifested, to study the Scriptures; an humble acknowledgment of the dreadful state of ignorance in which they are plunged; gratitude toward those who are assisting in rescuing them from it; and a greater regard to cleanliness and decency of apparel. "Since all this has been effected, through the Divine permission, in the short space of four years (when Mr. Bailey, the first missionary, settled among them), can we doubt, I would say it with humble reverence, that it seems to be the good pleasure of God that this once flourishing Church should be restored? sooner, possibly, than many may be aware of. "One pleasing feature in the character of the Syrians I have as yet neglected to bring forward; I mean, the great reverence which they shew toward their aged parents and relatives. Even the malpan could never be prevailed on to sit in his uncle's presence; and I witnessed a similar feeling in several other instances." SCHOOL FOR CLERGYMEN'S DAUGHTERS. It has been a subject of regret amongst the friends of the Established Church, that the provision for a considerable portion of the clergy is quite inadequate to their support: and whether we consider the happiness of individuals, or the welfare of parishes and congregations, we feel deeply anxious for the alleviation and speedy cure of the evil. The salutary effects of Queen Anne's Bounty are felt throughout the kingdom: the Society for the Sons of the Clergy is the means of alleviating much misery: whilst, in most of our dioceses, clerical charities have been established, and are in successful operation. As an additional means of administering to the wants of the poorer clergy, the following plan has been devised. It is proposed to open a school for the reception of clergymen's daughters. Lancaster is intended for the situation, as being a cheap, healthy, and retired town, affording the advantages of masters, if required; and likewise the services of several benevolent and pious ladies, who have promised to superintend the establishment. About forty girls will be accommodated: each girl to pay 141. a-year (half in advance) for clothing, lodging, boarding, and education. The education will be directed according to the capacities of the pupils, and the wishes of their friends. In all cases, the great object in view will be their mental and spiritual improvement, and to give that plain and useful education which may best fit them to return with respectability and advantage to their own homes, or to maintain themselves in the different stations of life to which Providence may call them. If a more liberal education is required, for any who may be sent to be educated as teachers and governesses, an extra charge will probably be made for masters. In many instances, the parents will be able to pay the whole of the annual sum of 14. But where this is impracticable, it is hoped that the affluent parishioners, or other friends of a respectable but necessitous clergyman, will gladly avail themselves of this method of administering to his wants. It is calculated that the sum of 147. will so far defray the whole annual expenditure, as not to require more than 100l. a year to be raised by subscriptions. The school will be open to the whole kingdom. Donors and subscribers will gain the first attention in the recommendation of pupils: and every effort will be made to confine the benefits of the school to the really necessitous clergy; and especially to those who are the most exemplary in their life and doctrine. Donations and subscriptions will be received by the Rev. William Carus Wilson, Vicar of Tunstall, near Kirkby Lonsdale; who will be happy to give further particulars, to be favoured with any hints for the management of the school, and to receive recommendations of proper teachers or pupils. We have readily given a place to this announcement; and, in the present unhappy state of the provision for the clergy, we should think a similar experiment well worth considering by the various Diocesan Clerical Societies already in existence; but we cannot disguise from ourselves or our readers, that all such eleemosynary remedies are not only very partial in their operation, but in the end, if adopted on a large scale, must have an injurious effect both on the clergy and the people. No race of human beings can be led for a series of years to depend systematically for relief upon public charity, without experiencing a degradation of character. We make this remark, not for the sake of repressing the ardour of private benevolence, which needs far more to be stimulated; but in order that our readers may not, in the cheering success of any local scheme of benefit, lose sight of what is the only remedy for the evils complained of namely, such a general provision for the clergy as shall enable every individual of good character in the profession to live comfortably, without fear or favour, on the well-earned emoluments of his office. It is highly important that every true friend of the Established Church should keep steadily before him this point, as on this, more than on almost any other public measure, must depend the well-being and efficiency of our clergy. We are not proposing an Agrarian law, but "Give me neither poverty nor riches' will be at least the individual prayer of every minister of Christ, who wishes to execute, with full devotion of mind, the arduous duties of a faithful parish priest. NEWFOUNDLAND SCHOOL SO CIETY. We have been intending for some time to bring before our readers the grievous necessities of the island of Newfoundland, as respects education and religious instruction; and are happy that we are now enabled to accompany the statement with an intimation that a channel is at length opened for a supply of at least some portion of these wants. The island of Newfoundland is one of the oldest colonies of the British empire; but, owing to various causes, it has not derived that benefit from the connexion which might reasonably have been expected. The moral and religious instruction of the inhabitants has been exceedingly neglected; the number of Protestant clergymen is very small; the scarcity and inefficiency of the existing schools are generally admitted; and the lamentable consequences of this want of instruction are such as might naturally have been anticipated. The attention of the legislature having in the last session been called to the state of this island, many of the existing evils will meet with their appropriate remedies; but, remark the Committee of the Institution which we are about to mention, "the moral evils must increase in proportion to the increase of population, unless some more efficient means of instrucCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 260. tion are adopted; and when we consider the dangers and depredations to which the property of the resident inhabitants, of the absent merchants, and of the masters and sailors of the fishing and trading vessels, is necessarily exposed on a long line of coast, presenting various opportunities for fraudulent and improper practices, it is obviously of the utmost importance, on commercial as well as moral grounds, to adopt immediate measures for inculcating sound principles among the rising generation." For this purpose the Newfoundland School Society has been established. The object of the Society is to provide schools throughout the island, conducted, as nearly as circumstances will admit, on Dr. Bell's system. A central school will be commenced as soon as possible at St. John's, for four hundred boys and three hundred girls: their operations will be extended with as much rapidity as the increase of their funds and other indispensable requisites will permit. The Government at home has kindly consented to patronise the undertaking, by authorising the local government to appropriate land for the site of schools, by affording a free passage in his Majesty's vessels to their schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, and by granting every facility in their power. Several individuals, also, of high rank and reputation, being deeply convinced of the necessity of the proposed measures, have come forward, and warmly espoused the cause of the Institution; and the Society are therefore the more confidently encouraged to apply to the public in general, in the earnest hope that those who have so kindly and charitably supported the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, and the establishment of missions among the Heathen, will not allow the descendants of their own countrymen, and fellowsubjects of their own government, to remain in their present neglected condition. The Earl of Liverpool has accepted the office of patron, and the Earl of Bathurst that of president. We have not space for the list of the other officers, which is highly respectable, and will ensure, we trust, a large degree of public patronage. The speeches delivered at the formation of the Society have been published, and contain, among other interesting details, the following. Mr. Codner, with whom the plan originated, and who has zealously and perseveringly exerted himself in behalf of Newfoundland, delivered the following statements: 3 Z "My knowledge of Newfoundland commenced in 1788, and from that year to 1808 I spent about six months of every year at St. John's, the capital of the island, with the exception of 1789. The igno rance and immorality I witnessed during this period I would gladly draw a veil over; but evils, to be remedied, must be declared; and I am constrained to state, that the letters I constantly receive from my agent in St. John's, as well as the testimony of many friends, who every year come home from the island, prove that the lower classes are still in an ignorant and degraded state. "The frequent sin of Sabbath-breaking brings with it its usual attendant vices; and where there are so few schools found to teach the children from the Bible how the Sabbath should be observed, it is not to be wondered at that they are ignorant on the subject. "The trade of the island is in a great measure conducted by a barter account, which is generally settled once a year; and as the planters, or dealers, draw their supplies from the merchants, it is very desirable that they should be taught to write: in some instances, the planters are obliged to use a stamp to affix their names to a contract. "The greater part of the female population are in a still more degraded state of ignorance, very few of them being able to read. "When I say I have been five-andthirty years connected with Newfound land, I ought to take shame to myself that I had not sooner made some efforts to plant schools there; this I strongly felt, as I heard Lord Liverpool declare, when he presided at a Bible Society at Margate, in October 1821, that Britons had a duty, an important duty, to perform, arising out of their extensive colonies. As Christians, we ought to deplore that this duty had been so long neglected, and his Lordship appealed to them, as Christians and as Protestants, to exert them selves to remedy the evil. As I listened to his Lordship, I considered how negli gent I had been, for I knew that the one of our colonies to which I was more immediately attached much needed Christian instruction; and from that day I commenced my efforts for a School Society, which we are this day met to consolidate." F. Forbes, Esq., late Chief Justice of the colony, remarked that "Most persons were absolutely ignorant of the present state of moral degradation which pervaded Newfoundland. He had been for some settle there. This policy prevailed long after the expediency which gave it birth had ceased. In spite of every obstruction, the seamen and fishermen began to remain there. When the fisheries failed, these people suffered the deepest distress: they nearly perished for want of food; while the whole island was as rude a wilderness as at the dawn of creation. Thus were the causes which produced those remarkable appearances in this colony, remote and hidden. The government was not resident, and used to be withdrawn at the close of the fishing season; and those who remained were supposed to do it without the sanction of the law. The colony had enjoyed a period of bright prosperity. The decided superiority of our navy had given it the exclusive enjoyment of the market for fish upon the Continent. The British flag only waved over the Atlantic for a considerable time; and the demands for Newfoundland fish were immense. The wages of the men rose to 150l. and they were only employed five months. They had since the peace experienced the most extreme reverses. A total change was wrought in the markets, into which the Americans and the French now entered as competitors. Spain and Portugal took less of the commodity, being now relieved from the superstitious and religious obligations under which they were bound before. The loss of South America left, besides, less gold and silver for them to purchase fish. In 1814, the exports from Newfoundland were two millions; in 1821-22, they were not sufficient for the maintenance of the colony. Wages were sunk to 15%., or 201., or at the utmost 251., a sum of money which barely met the exigencies of the climate. He was aware of the great effort made by this country for their relief; but eleemosynary grants could never be of any great advantage in supporting a whole people. It was of much more consequence to give them wholesome moral institutions, and especially schools." We copy the following circumstance, mentioned by the Rev. H. Budd, for the same reasons that induced the reverend speaker to state it: It was no small blessing that we lived at a time when the expression of a charitable intention was a sufficient introduction to the closet of a Minister of State. A striking instance of this had been given in the audience which Mr. Codner had obtained with the Noble Earl at the head of his Majesty's government: Mr. Codner had only to announce the ground of his request for an audience, when an early hour was appointed; a particular explanation of his purpose to benefit the colony of Newfoundland was patiently attended to; and the Noble Earl testified that the design met his full eoncurrence, by selecting for himself the situation of vice-patron to the society, to which he has since added a valuable donation of 30%.; and he dismissed Mr. Codner, empowering him to acquaint Lord Bathurst with the patronage which he had given the society; by which the valuable concurrence of his Lordship and of the colonial office was obtained; and he could not but congratulate the meeting, that their lot was cast in a country, and under a government, where the ministers only wanted to be informed that charity might be done, in order to do it." Subscriptions will be received in London by Messrs. Whitmore and Co., Lombard street; Messrs. Hatchard, Piccadilly; Messrs. Seeley, Fleet street; and Mr. J. Nisbet, Berner's street: by Messrs. Sanders and Son, Exeter: Mr. W. Richardson, bookseller, Bristol; and by the Secretary, the Rev. T. Webster, Somerstown. FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE BISHOP OF CALCUTTA. At a special meeting of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, on the 13th June, at which were present the Archbishops of Canterbury and Dublin; the Bishops of London, St. David's, Chester, Llandaff, Bristol, and Calcutta; and a large and highly respectable attendance of other members of the institution; the Bishop of Bristol delivered, in the name of the Society, a farewell address to the new Bishop of Calcutta, which has since been printed. His Lordship, in adverting to the plans of Bishop Middleton, particularly congratulated the Society on the improved state of the Europeans in India, and the rapid decay of the influence of the degrading institution of easte among the natives. The following passages from his Lordship's address shew how warmly and justly the Society hail the appointment of Bishop Heber to his important station, and exhibit a concise sketch of the Society's proceedings and prospects in India. 66 "My Lord-The Society for promoting Christian Knowledge desire to offer to your Lordship their sincere congratulations upon your elevation to the Episcopal See of Calcutta. "They derive from your appointment to this high office the certain assurance, that all the advantages which they have anti |