"Cranganore, 9th Dec. 1806.

This is that celebrated place of Christian antiquity where the Apostle Thomas is said to have landed, when he first arrived in India from Aden in Arabia. There was formerly a town and fort at Cranganore, the Portuguese having once thought of making it the emporium of their commerce in India; but both are now in ruins. There is however one substantial relic of its greatness. There is an Archbishop of Cranganore, and subject to him there are forty-five Churches; many of which I entered. In some of them the worship is conducted with as much decorum as in the Romish Churches of Western Ireland. Not far from Cranganore is the town of PAROOR, where there is an ancient Syrian Church, which bears the name of the Apostle Thomas. It is supposed to be the oldest in Malabar, and is still used for Divine Service. I took a drawing of it. The tradition among the Syrians is, that the Apostle continued at this place for a time, before we went to preach at Melapoor and St. Thomas's Mount, on the coast of Coromandel, where he was put to death.-The fact is certainly of little consequence; but I am satisfied that we have as good authority for believing that the Apostle Thomas died in India, as that the Apostle Peter died at Rome.'

'Verapoli, Dec. 1806.

"This is the residence of Bishop Raymondo, the Pope's Apostolic Vicar in Malabar. There is a College here for the sacerdotal office, in which the students (from ten to twenty in number) are instructed in the Latin and Syriac Languages.---At Pulingunna there is another College, in which the Syriac alone is taught. Here I counted twelve Students. The Apostolic Vicar superintends sixty-four Churches; exclusive of the forty-five governed by the Archbishop of Cranganore, and exclusive of the large Dioceses of the Bishops of Cochin and of Quilon, whose Churches extend to Cape Comorin, and are visible from the sea. The view of this assemblage of Christian congregations excited in my mind mingled sensations of pleasure and regret; of pleasure to think that so many of the Hindoos has been rescued from the idolatry of Brahma, and its criminal worship; and of regret when I reflected that there was not to be found among the whole body, one copy of the Holy Bible.

6

and corresponds

The Apostolic Vicar is an Italian, with the Society de propaganda Fide.' He is a man of liberal manners, and gave me free access to the archives of Verapoli, which are upwards of two centuries old. In the library I found many volumes marked 'Liber hereticus prohibitus.' Every step I take in Christian India, I meet with a memento of the Inquisition. The Apostolical Vicar, however, does not acknowledge its authority, and places himself under British protection. He

spoke of the Inquisition with just indignation, and, in the presence of the British Resident, called it a horrid Tribunal.' I asked him whether he thought I might with safety visit the Inquisition, when I sailed past Goa; there being at this time a British force in its vicinity. It asserted a personal jurisdiction over natives who were now British subjects: and it was proper the English Government should know something of its present state. The Bishop answered,' I do not know what you might do under the protection of a British force; but I should not like (smiling, and pressing his capacious sides,) to trust my body in their hands.'

"We then had some conversation on the subject of giving the Scriptures to the native Roman Catholics. I had heard before, that the Bishop was by no means hostile to the measure. I told him that I should probably find the means of translating the Scriptures into the Malabar Language, and wished to know whether he had any objection to this mode of illuminating the ignorant minds of the native Christians. He said he had none. I visited the Bishop two or three times afterwards. At our last interview he said, 'I have been thinking of the good gift you are meditating for the native Christians; but believe me, the Inquisition will endeavour to counteract your purposes by every means in their power. afterwards conversed with an intelligent native Priest, who was well acquainted with the state and character of the Christians, and asked him whether he thought they would be happy to obtain the Scriptures? Yes,' answered he, those who have heard of them.' I asked if he had got a Bible himself?--- No,' he said; but he had seen one at Goa,''

I

← Angamalee, a Syrian Town, containing Three Churches, January, 1807.

'I have penetrated once more inland to visit the Syrian Churches. At the town of Cenotta, I was surprised to meet with Jews and Christians in the same street. The Jews led me first to their Synagogue, and allowed me to take away some manuscripts for money. The Syrian Christians then conducted me to their ancient church. I afterwards set down on an eminence above the town to contemplate this interesting spectacle; a Jewish Synagogue, and a Christian Church, standing over against each other; exhibiting, as it were, during many revolving ages, the Law and the GOSPEL to the view of the heathen people.

'Angamalee is one of the most remote of the Syrian towns in this direction, and is situated on a high land. This was once the residence of the Syrian Bishop. The inhabitants told me, that when Tippoo Sultan invaded Travancore, a detachment of his cavalry penetrated to Angamalee, where they expected to find great wealth, from its ancient fame. Being Mahomedans, they expressed their abhorrence of the Christian religion, by destroying one of the lesser Churches, and stabling their horses in the great Church. In this place I have found a good many valuable manuscripts. I had been led to suppose, from the statement of the Portuguese historians, that

possibly all the Syriac MSS. of the Bible had been burned by the Romish Church at the Synod of Diamper, in 1599. But this was not the case. The Inquisitors condemned many books to the flames; but they saved the Bible; being content to order that the Syriac Scriptures should be amended agreeably to the Vulgate of Rome. But many Bibles and other volumes were not produced at all. In the acts of the council of Nice, it is recorded, that Johannes, Bishop of India, signed his name at that council in A. D. 325.

The Syriac version

according to the Some of their pre

Though writ

of the Scriptures was brought to India, popular belief, before the year 325. sent copies are certainly of ancient date. ten on a strong thick paper, like that of some MSS. in the British Museum, commonly called Eastern paper, the ink has, in several places, eat through the material in the exact form of the letter. In other copies, where the ink had less of a corroding quality, it has fallen off, and left a dark vestige of the letter; faint, indeed, but not, in general, illegible. There is a volume, which was deposited in one of the remote Churches, near the mountains, which merits a particular description. It contains the Old and New Testaments, engrossed on strong vellum, in large folio, having three columns in a page; and is written with beautiful accuracy. The character is Estrangelo Syriac; and the words of every book are numbered. But the volume has suffered injury from time or neglect. In certain places the ink has been totally obliterated from the page, and left the parchment in its state of natural whiteness: but the letters can, in general, be distinctly traced from the impress of the