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are said to be eighty-six parishes of Roman catholic Syrians subject to the diocese of Cranganore and Verapoli. Their priests, to the number of four hundred, are styled Catanars, which is a Syrian appellation: their congregations are reported at ninety thousand, (old and young included) agreeably to the last return transmitted to Rome....There is an inferior order of priests, who are called Chiamas, in number about one hundred and twenty. The Hindoos have, as far as I can learn, a much greater respect for the Christians of the original church than for the converts of the Latin communion; which may be sccounted for by their not associating with the lower orders of people. Attached to each church is a convent, where the catanars reside in community, there being three, four or five to each church. The service is performed weekly, in rotation. There is a seminary at the college of Verapoli for the education of the Syrio Roman catholics, and also one for the Latin church. The Syrio Roman catholics are chiefly engaged, as already mentioned, in drawing their ancient brethren within the Romish pale; but it appears that some of them have been employed formerly in extending the general object of conversion over the peninsula. I saw one of their churches at a village near Pillambaddy, about thirty miles on the Madras side of Trichinopoly; and I heard of several others. They had at this village adopted the use of the sawmy coach, like that of the heathens, with the crucifix and the Virgin Mary in it, instead of the Hindoo sawmy. Their church was much out of repair; and the ignorance of the few christians remaining in charge of it is striking: the letters I, N, R, I, over the figure of our Saviour on the cross, being absolutely inverted: nor did the priests who visit them ever notice the circumstance. They read prayers in Malabar, according to the ritual of the church of Rome. Their church ap pears to have been once respectable, but is now fallen into decay.

Latin Roman Catholics.

"Within the province of Travancore and Cochin there are one archbishop and two bishops:...the archbishop of Cranganore, and the bishops of Cochin and Verapoli.

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The two former have sees, the latter is titular. The archbishops of Cranganore and the bishop of Cochin are nominated by the queen of Portugal, after the following manner:-Three names are sent, (when either of these sees become vacant,) by the sovereign of Portugal to the pope; and the Roman pontiff is bound to select the name that stands first, and to issue his brevet or patent accordingly.

They are subject in all spiritual concerns to the primate of Goa; who has power also during a vacancy, of sending from Goa a locum tenens, who is styled Padre Governador. Both sees are at this moment filled by such.

"The titular bishop, who resides at the college of Verapoli, is appointed directly by the pope, and is subject to no jurisdiction but that of his holiness, or the propaganda at Rome. This mission being more susceptible of control and regulation than the others, has been countenanced by the honorable company, as the following copy of a proclamation issued by the government of Bombay will show.

"PROCLAMATION.

"The honorable the court of directors of the honorable English East-India Company, having been pleased to order that the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman catholic churches under this government, shall be withdrawn from the archbishop of Goa, and restored to the Carmelite bishop of the apostolic mission, the president in council has accordingly resolved, that the said restitution shall take place on the first of the ensuing month; from which time he hereby enjoins all the catholic inhabitants in Bombay, as well as the several factories and settlements subordinate thereto, to pay due obedience in spiritual matters to the said bishops, on pain of incurring the severe displeasure of government.

"By order of the Honorable the Governor in Council, Bombay Castle, 2(Signed) WILLIAM PAGE. 2d Aug. 1791." S Secretary.

"The priests attached to the college of Verapoli are all Carmelites, united to the apostolic mission at Bombay, but not subject to it. The jurisdiction of each is not

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marked by distinct bounds; the parishes and churches being so intermingled, that it is difficult to form a right notion of their extent. The bishop of Cochin, however, may be said to have a controul over all the Romish churches situated on the sea coast, immediately (with few exceptions,) from Cochin to Ramnad, and thence round the whole of the island of Ceylon; the churches are numerous; but as they are in general poor, and are obliged to be supplied with priests from Goa, it would appear that one vicar holds, upon an average, five or six churches. The number of Christians composing these churches must be great, as all and every of the fishermen are Roman catholics. The bishop of Cochin usually 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 thirtyfive thousand. The catechuman suffers no persecution on account of his religion, when once converted; but the conntry governments are excessively jealous upon this point, and do their utmost to discountenance any con

version.

"The converts are from various casts, viz. Chegars or Teers; Muck was and Pullers; and there can be no doubt but that many of higher cast would be baptized if they did not dread the displeasure of their governments.

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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 three hundred;-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 themselves to my mind; and I shall not be considered as deviating from the line of my profession, ог 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 country, as well by departing most shamefully from our Christian profession ourselves as in withholding those sources of moral perfection from the natives, which true christianity alone ean 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 edium 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 númerous 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 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*

To give English morals to the natives in their purity, we must, I imagine, make them read English books. Translations have hitherto been very defective a 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 Brahmins 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 des pise us too much to suppose there is any danger of overturning the principle of Brahminism. But their ill founded, ridiculous principles must be shaken to the very foundation, by the communication of such liberal knowledge as a Christian can instil into the minds of youth, and fix these by means of English books; and all this without making any alarming attack directly on the religion of the Hindoos

throughout every part of this country, by which the chitdren 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 masters 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 Christiantity throughout our eastern possessions; and the names of Swarts, Gerricke, 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 government, and received no kind of assistance whatsoever; that they were few in num ber, 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 rity of their lives, and by their zeal in spreading instruc This will admit of no denial; and I doubt not that

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