wheeled away the rubbish of the old pagodas, I had nothing better than simple Deism to erect in their stead, I should still feel some of the anxiety which now urges me. It is necessary to see idolatry, to be fully sensible of its mischievous effects on the human mind. But of all idolatries which I have ever read or heard of, the religion of the Hindoos, in which I have taken some pains to inform myself, really appears to me the worst, both in the degrading notions which it gives of the Deity; in the endless round of its burdensome ceremonies, which occupy the time and distract the thoughts, without either instructing or interesting its votaries; in the filthy acts of uncleanness and cruelty not only permitted but enjoined, and inseparably interwoven with those cere monies; in the system of castes, a system which tends, more than any thing else the devil has yet invented, to destroy the feelings of general benevolence, and to make nine-tenths of mankind the hopeless slaves of the remainder; and in the total absence of any popular system of morals, or any single lesson, which the people at large ever hear, to live virtuously and do good to each other. I do not say, indeed, that there are not some scattered lessons of this kind to be found in their ancient books; but those books are neither accessible to the people at large, nor are these last permitted to read them; and, in general, all the sins which a Sudra is taught to fear, are, killing a cow, offending a Brahmin, or neglecting one of the many frivolous rites by which their deities are supposed to be conciliated. Accordingly, though the general sobriety of the Hindoos (a virtue which they possess in common with most inhabitants of warm climates) affords a very great facility to the maintenance of public order and decorum, I really never have met with a race of men whose standard of morality is so low, who feel so little apparent shame in being detected in a falsehood, or so little interest in the sufferings of a neighbour not being of their own caste or family; whose ordinary and familiar conversation is so licentious; or, in the wilder and more lawless districts, who shed blood with so little repugnance. The good qualities which there are among them (and, thank God! there is a great deal of good among them still) are, in no instance that I am aware of, connected with, or arising out of, their religion, since it is in no instance to good deeds or virtuous habits of life that the future rewards in which they believe are promised. Their bravery, their fidelity to

their employers, their temperance, and (wherever these are found) their humanity and gentleness of disposition, appear to arise exclusively from a natural happy temperament; from an honourable pride in their own renown, and the renown of their ancestors; and from the goodness of God, who seems unwilling that his image should be entirely defaced even in the midst of the grossest error. The Mussulmans have a far better creed; and, though they seldom either like the English or are liked by them, I am inclined to think, are, on the whole, a better people. Yet, even with them, the forms of their worship have a natural tendency to make men hypocrites; and the overweening contempt with which they are inspired for all the world beside, the degradation of their women by the system of polygamy, and the detestable crimes, which, owing to this degradation, are almost universal, are such as, even if I had no ulterior hope, would make me anxious to attract them to a better or more harmless system. In this work, thank God, in those parts of India which I have visited, a beginning has been made, and a degree of success obtained, at least commensurate to the few years during which our missionaries have laboured; and it is still going on, in the best and safest way, as the work of private persons alone, and, although not forbidden, in no degree encouraged by government."

In a letter dated from Trichinopoly, Ist April 1826, two days only before his death, the Bishop writes:

"Of Schwartz and his fifty years' labour among the heathen, the extraordinary influence and popularity which he acquired, both with Mussulmans, Hindoos, and contending European governments, I need give you no account, except that my idea of him has been raised since I came into the south of India. I used to suspect that, with many admirable qualities, there was too great a mixture of intrigue in his character; that he was too much of a political prophet; and that the veneration which the heathen paid, and still pay him (and which indeed almost regards him as a superior being, putting crowns and burning lights before his statue), was purchased by some unwarrantable compromise with their prejudices. I find I was quite mistaken. He was really one of the most active and fearless (as he was one of the most successful) missionaries who have appeared since the Apostles. To say that he was disinterested in regard to money is nothing; he was perfectly careless of power, and renown never seemed

to affect him even so far as to induce an outward show of humility. His temper was perfectly simple, open, and cheerful; and in his political negotiations (employments which he never sought, but which fell in his way,) he never pretended to impartiality, but acted as the avowed, though certainly the successful and judicious, agent of the orphan prince intrusted to his care, and from attempting whose conversion to Christianity he seems to have abstained from a feeling of honour. His other converts were between six and seven thousand, besides those which his predecessors and companions in the cause had brought over. The number is gradually increasing, and there are now in the south of India about two hundred Protestant congregations, the numbers of which have been sometimes vaguely stated at forty thousand. I doubt whether they reach fifteen thousand; but even this, all things considered, is a great number. The Roman Catholics are considerably more numerous, but belong to a lower caste of Indians (for even these Christians retain many prejudices of caste), and, in point of knowledge and morality, are said to be extremely inferior. "The Brahmins, being limited to voluntary votaries, have now often very hard work to speed the ponderous wheels of Suon and Bali through the deep lanes of this fertile country. This is, however, still the most favoured land of Brahminism, and the temples are larger and more beautiful than any which I have seen in Northern India. They are also decidedly older; but as to their very remote age, I am still incredulous."

An original letter of the Bishop's lies before us, written, during his visit to Ceylon, to the late Rev. J. Mayor, vicar of Shawbury, Shropshire, the father of the Rev. Robert Mayor, one of the Church Missionary Society's missionaries in Ceylon. Though some of the remarks in it are chiefly local and personal, we copy nearly the whole as shewing not only the deep anxiety of the writer for the promotion of the Gospel of Christ among the heathen, but as highly encouraging to the members of the Church Missionary Society, to the character of whose missionaries the Bishop offers so warm a testimony of respect and affection. When the letter reached its destination, the revered writer was no more; and the venerable servant of God to whom it was addressed, lived only just long enough to have his last moments gladdened by a

report so gratifying to him as a Christian and a parent.

"Galle, Ceylon, Sept. 28, 1825. "My dear sir,-I seize a few moments of the first leisure which I have had for a long time (while waiting a change of wind to enable our ship to leave this harbour for Calcutta) to give you some account of those most dear to you in this island. I arrived at this port five weeks ago, in visiting the different parts of my great diocese; and had the pleasure to be greeted, among those who first came off to our vessel, by your son Robert, looking stout and well, and very little altered from what he was when I last saw him in England......Mrs. Heber and I had the pleasure, in our return from the North, of passing the best part of three days with him and Mrs. Mayor, in their romantic abode at Baddagamme, where we also found his colleague Mr. Ward, his wife, and family, in perfect health and contented cheerfulness. I consecrated their church, which is really an extraordinary building, considering the place in which, and the circumstances under which, it has been erected; and I had also the happiness of administering confirmation and the Lord's Supper to a small but promising band of their converts and usual hearers; and I can truly say, both for my wife and myself, that we have never paid a visit which has interested and impressed us more agreeably, from the good sense, good taste, and right feeling, the concord, zeal, and orderly and industrious piety, which appeared to pervade both families and every part of their establishment. Mr. Ward has in some degree got the start in Cingalese studies, but the progress which both have made in so difficult a language has been mentioned to me as highly honourable to them; and Robert, from his medical skill, his truly masculine sense, his bodily as well as mental energy, and his cheerfulness under difficulties, has qualifications of the most valuable kind for the life which he has chosen. Both of them are all in fact which you or I could wish them; active, zealous, well-informed, and orderly clergymen, devoted to the instruction and help of their heathen neighbours; both enjoying a favourable report, I think I may say without exception, from the governor, public functionaries, and in general from all the English in the colony whom I have heard speak of them.

"The cause of Christianity is, I hope, going on well here. There is among the Cingalese and Tamul population a very large

dren were partly educated and clothed by it in the metropolis alone. In 1741, more than 2000 schools were established throughout the country. And now!-under its auspices, from 10 to 12,000 children are yearly assembled in the temple of the Lord, and more than 300,000 children are receiving a Christian education. This gratifying and splendid increase, under the Divine blessing, is due to the co-operation of The National School Society,' which has relieved the Society entirely from the superintendance, and in great measure from the expense, of these establishments. But still it mani fests its tender regard for their success and welfare, and at very reduced prices (in some cases gratuitously) furnishes all the elementary books of instruction which are necessary for the schools. It is evident that a vast and increasing expense is thus annually incurred by the Society's fund; whilst,

"2. A still more expensive department is the distribution of the word of God, and other books and tracts calculated to promote the knowledge and practice of Christianity. The general diffusion of knowledge amongst a rapidly increasing population renders this department more important every year, at home,-while a closer union and intercourse with foreign countries presents, year by year, new channels for dispersing the same books in foreign languages;-an advantage the Society is compelled to decline, or execute very inadequately, from the limited state of its funds. Of what might, and, with God's grace, would be effected with a larger revenue, some notion may be formed from the fact, that, with its present means, within the last fourteen years at least fifteen millions of books have been distributed by the Society; of which the Book of Common Prayer formed a large proportion. And, in addition to a prodigious number of tracts, 24,000 copies of a large Family Bible have been rapidly disposed of. The demand for this spiritual food is found, in the National Schools, -in the establishment of Lending Libraries throughout the country,-in the wants of our Christian brethren in the most populous and often the poorest districts of the kingdom, in those who suffer affliction in hospitals and infirmaries, and in those whom the laws of their country detain in prisons; whose deluded and unhappy condition has ever most warmly attracted the sympathy of the Society. It is found, also, in the wants of our navy, our armies, (who have recently drawn

very largely upon the Society,) and—which opens an unbounded field for exertionin all our colonies and foreign connexions. In 1819, when it was permitted, for the inscrutable purposes of that Divine Providence which ruleth all things, and for the trial of his church, that atheistical and infidel publications should spread abroad the poison of unbelief, not fewer than one million tracts, &c. were issued by the Society, in order to correct and refute such dangerous principles. Of these tracts, and the exertions of those pious and learned members of the church who prepared them, we have (thank God!) lived to see the good effects. Under the Society's superintendance, the Holy Scriptures have been translated into the Welsh, Irish, Gaelic, and several of the Oriental languages. And various religious tracts have been printed either by itself, or its district Committees in India ;-one of which, at Calcutta, in the present year, sends home the grateful tidings, that many have had reason to bless its institution, as the instrument whereby they have been brought under the grace of God to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,'-adding, 'of this fact the frequent legacies left in its behalf by the humble soldier and other individuals afford a sufficient testimony.'-It must however be repeated, that in prosecuting the work of foreign translations of the Bible, and any other books which are upon the Society's catalogue, (a work which comes strictly within the Society's design and desire,) an insuperable difficulty must exist (until our renewed exertions shall have been blessed with large success) in the want of funds. The society has at present about 15,000 subscribing members, -a number sufficient to attest its good name and report, and excite at once our gratitude and joy, but totally insufficient to enable it to carry forward its vast designs, or even to meet, with its wonted liberality, the daily necessities which demand its pious aid. A large proportion of the present members are clergymen; a body of men whose means are generally inadequate to meet the claims of charity within their own parishes. And yet the number of subscribers to the Society does not equal the number of the ministers of the Established Church. The laity are not yet aware of the need there is for cooperation.-The cause of the Society is not yet fully known. Its pure, and Christian, and charitable views have not yet reached the ears of thousands of true friends to the cause of virtue, religion, and our Christian church, whose hearts are