of being plundered by the Boschemen, who had already murdered two of our baptized Hottentots. In these disinal circumstances our Lord shewed me the means by which I obtained the opportunity of answering to my calling, and becoming not only useful to Christians, but also to a great many Heathen, who likewise were longing for instruction: but however, as thereby the difficulties in our place could not be removed, it had this cffect: that my two brethren, together with our people, determined to follow me to the district of Graaff Reinet; be cause no way of deliverance opened before our eyes; but this could ory be done with an intention to proceed afterwards to such a place as might be thought convenient, and act as we had done at Zak River. By the grace of God, we are now at Graaff Reinet; and for this have every reason for thankfulness. The most of our people live with such men as allow them to frequent our religious meetings; and others of them live in the village itself; so that they may make daily use of the means of grace. Some of them are even preachers of the gospel to their fellow-Hottentots and slaves, who live at a great distance from this place; which has much more influence upon them than we ever could have; because they do not expect that people of their own nation will impose upon them. I entertain great hopes that this will have the best consequences. Besides, the servitude of our people makes them more industrious than they were at Zak River. I enjoy at present the invaluable privilege of preaching the gospel among a vast number of persons. The number of the Heathen increases daily. Last Sunday I had the pleasure of seeing 120 slaves and Hot tentots in our meeting, who rejoice that they are enabled to hear the word of God. It is very affecting to see these poor creatures rejoice in this great privilege, of which they were formerly deprived. I intend to go to-morrow farther into the interior; and shall be some weeks from home, to preach the gospel to Christians and Heathens. Our Brother Vos has been obliged to take upon him the office of clerk in our church, and instructor of the young people, until a way may be opened that he can go again to Zak River. In the mean time, he is occupied with me in instructing the Heathen, who are numerous among us; and as I am sometimes obliged to be absent for many weeks toge ther, to preach at a distance, he officiates for me in Graaff Reinet; and is very useful to all the people, From early in the morning till late in the evening, he is daily engaged in this good work. However, he hopes with me, that our Lord may, at a future time open a way for him and brother Botma, who also is waiting for it, to establish our Zak River congregation in a separate place. Our prospect, however, is in this respect very dark. Our worthy Landdrost Stokkenstrom is ready to procure us a tract of land in the Tarka, which is extremely fruitful. But, on account of the plundering Caffrarians and Boschemans, that part of the country is still very dangerous; the more so, as all the inhabitants in that district fled away; and our people are not inclined to go again among their enemies. Besides, we have no means of establishing a new mission; a number of cattle is necessary for food, and the cultivation of the ground. According to our opinion, it will be the best that our people remain for some time in servitude, in order to obtain some money and cattle, necessary to begin a new es tablishment. This, however, will not be sufficient without other assist. ance; for the wages are low, come pared to what they continually staud in need of. Besides, there are no Christians in the Tarka country, in whose service they can go. We shall be very happy to learn your opinion upon this subject. It will be peculiarly agreeable for me to receive a letter from you as soon as possible. Farewell! my dear brethren; and, soliciting your prayers, I am your affectionate brother, J. KICHERER. Jamaica, 88. IN ORDINANCE for preventing the Profanation of Religious Riles and False Worshipping of God, under the pretence of preaching and teaching, by illiterate, ignor ant, and ill-disposed Persons, and of the Mischiefs consequent there upon. place, to the great annoyance of the neighbours, and to the disrepute of religion itself; and also to the great detriment of slaves, who are preinduced, by divers artifices and tences of the said pretended preach JAMAICA. The following Copy of a most iniquitous Law, passed by the Corporation of Kingston in Jamaica, is exactly transcribed from the printed newspaper, now in possession of one of our corresponders, to attend the said irregular asents. The immediate effect has semblies, whereby such slaves are been the suppression of all pub continually kept and detained from their owners' necessary business and lic worship among the negroes of the Baptist denomination, and employ; and, in some cases, the the very great restriction of the minds of slaves have been so operMethodists, who are still perated upon and affected by the famitted to meet in a licenced naticism of the aforesaid description of persons, as to become acchapel; but are not suffered to employ their coloured exhorters tually deranged, Be it therefore enacted and ordained, by the comin any other place. mon council of the city and parish of Kingston (the mayor, aldermen, and common council-men of the said city and parish, or a competent and legal number or quorum of them being in common council assembled); and it is hereby enacted and ordained, by the authority of the same, that, from and after the 1st day of July next, no person, not being duly authorised, qualified, and permitted, as is directed by the laws of this island, and of Great Britain, and in the place mentioned in such licence, shall, under pretence of being a minister of religion, of any sect or denomination, or of being a teacher or expounder of the gospel, or other parts of the holy Scriptures, shall presume to preach or teach, or offer up public prayer, or sing psalms, in any meeting or assembly of negroes, or persons of colour within this city and parish and, in case any person shall in any ways offend herein, every such person, if a white person, suall suffer such punishment by fine, not exceeding 1001. or by imprisonment in the common jail for any space not exceeding three months, or both; or, if a free person of colour, or free black by fine, not exceeding 1007. or imprisonment in the workhouse for a space of time not exceeding three months, or both; or, if a slave, by imprisonment and hard labour in the workhouse for a space not exceeding six months, or by whipping, not exceeding 39 stripes, or both, as shall be in these cases respectively adjudgod. "WHEREAS it is not only highly incumbent upon, but the first and most serious duty of all magistrates and bodies politic, to uphold and encourage the due, proper, and solemn exercise of religion, and worshipping God: And whereas nothing can tend more to bring true devotion, and the practice of real religion into disrepute, than the pretended teaching, preaching, and expounding the word of God as contained in the holy Scriptures, by uneducated, illiterate, and ignorant persons and false enthusiasts: And whereas the practice of such pretended preaching, teaching, and expounding the holy Scriptures, by such descriptions of persons as aforesaid, to large numbers of persons of colour and negroes, both of free condition and slaves, assembled together in houses, negro-houses, huts, and the yards thereunto appertaining, and also in divers lanes, and bye-places, within this city and parish, hath encreased to an alarming degree; and, during such pretended preaching, teaching, and expounding, and pretended worshipping of God, divers indecent and unseemly noises, gesticulations, and behaviour, often are used and take "And be it further enacted and ordained, by the authority aforesaid, that no person or persons whatsoever, being, so as aforesaid, licenced and permitted, shall use public worship in any of the said places within this city and parish, which may be so licenced as aforesaid, earlier than the hour of six in the morning, or later than sun-set in the evening, under the penalty of such punishment by fine, not exceeding 1007. or imprisonment, not exceeding the space of three months, or both, as shall be in that respect adju tged. And be it further enacted and ordained, by the authority aforesafd, that from and after the said 1st day of July next, in case any owner, possessor or occupier of any house, out-house, yard, or other place whatsoever, shall permit any meeting of any description of persons, for the purpose of hearing or joining in any such pretended teaching, preaching, praying, or singing of psalms as aforesaid, such owner, occupier, or possessor, being a white person, shall incur and suffer such punishment by fine, not exceeding 1007. or, by imprisonment in the common jail, not exceeding three months, or both; or, if a person of colour or black, of free condition, by fine, not exceeding 1007. or confinement in the workhouse for any space not exceeding three months; or, if a slave, by confinement and hard labour in the workhouse, for any space not exceeding six months, or by whipping, not exceeding 39 stripes, or both, as shall in these respective cases be adjudged. Passed the common council this 15th day of June, 1807. Daniel Moore, Recorder. Vera Copia Extur. Thomas Dennis, City-Clerk." We are extremely concerned to find that the above severe and unjust restrictions are laid on the friends of religion in Jamaica, where their zealous efforts were much needed. We are assured, from the best authority, that the persons who are thus prevented from meeting to worship God, conducted themselves in a peaceable and orderly manner, and gave no offence but by their opposition to sin. This perhaps was the grand cause of the restriction; for, among numbers of persons who have lately become serious, were many young women of colour, and who, consequently, could not be persuaded to those illicit connections with the whites which had generally prevailed. These wicked men were alarmed lest their mistresses should desert them, and lest they should not be able to accomplish their designs in the seduction of others. We have reason to believe that this is a principal cause of this legal persecution; but we trust that the royal authority, which has interfered in some former cases of a similar kind, will again be interposed, to prevent the continuation of a law so hostile to the tolerant spirit of the British Constitution. Such is the hatred manifested by certain persons against religion, that, a few days before the passing of this ordinance, a poor black man was taken up and put into the Guard - house, for no other crime than that of praying too loud in his own house. By this cruel law, the religious services of the morning, from 5 to 6, before the negroes went to work, and after sun-set, when they had done work, are now prohibited; which amounts, indeed, to a total prohibition, as they can have no other opportunities of hearing. INDIA. A LETTER has been received from the Rev. Mr. Ringeltaube to the Secretary, dated Palamcotta, Feb. 7, 1807. He has acquired the language so as to write it correctly, and speak it with but little hesitation. He in forms us, that Mr. Vos, of Ceylon, has lost his new-born son; and that Mr. Errhardt was in daily expectation of the birth of a child. Mr. Ringeltaube has also sent his Journal, from Sept. 12, 1806, to Feb. 6, 1807. He mentions that Dr. Buchanan had requested the loan of his Bible in the Tamul language, as he was about to commence the Malay alem translation of the Scriptures immediately, there being 200,000 Christians in Maleyalam, who are ready to receive it. Even the Romish bishop, it is said, signified his consent to the circulation of the Scriptures among his people. The Doctor observes, in his letter to Mr. Ringeltaube, that he has had singular success in obtaining ancient manuscripts, in Hebrew, Syriac, &c. Mr. R. greatly rejoiced at this good news; and sent him his only copy of that Bible without delay. A Letter has been received from Mr. Loveless, dated Madras, March 4, 1807. He appears to be going on well in the school; and preaches every Sunday and Wednesday evening in the Black Town, to about 60 or 70 people. He has heard from Brothers Cran and Desgranges, at Vizagapatam, who are going on prosperously. Their school-house is nearly completed; and the gentlemen of the settlement continue to shew them kindness. ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITIES IN INDIA. E [We have been favoured, by a respectable Correspondent in India, with a Copy of a REPORT, presented by a pious Clergyman, at the request of the Governor of Madras, concerning the State of the Ancicut Christians in Cochin and Travancore, This Report is so curious and so interesting, that we shall give the whole of it to our readers, assured that they will esteem it, as we do, a most valuable and important document. It is followed by an Account of the Rev. Dr. Buchanan's Discoveries.] REPORT of the Senior Chaplain of Fort St. George, to the Right Honour able Lord William Bentinck, Governor of Madras, on the State of the Christians inhabiting the Kingdoms of Cochin and Travancore; with an Article of interesting Literary Intelligence, containing an Account of the Discoveries made by the Rev. Dr. BUCHANAN, in the Course of his Inves tigations undertaken by Order of the Supreme Government in Bengal. "Public Department. "To the Rev. Dr. KERR, Senior Chaplain of Fort St. George. "Reverend Sir, "The Right Honourable the Governor in Council being desirous of avaiting himself of your vicinity to the Malabar Coast, to obtain every possible information in regard to the Establishment, &c. of the Christian Religion in that part of the Peninsula, I am directed by his Lordship in Council, ~ to desire that so soon as the state of your health and the season will permit, you will proceed to the provinces on that coast; and you will forward to me, for the information of Government, such Accounts as you may be able to collect, of the First Introduction of Christianity into India, of the Arrival of the different Sects who have been, or may be in existence, —of their General History, and of the Persecutions to which they may have been exposed,— of their Success in making Proselytes, — of their Church Establishment, and of the Source from which they are maintained, and with all other circumstances connected with this important subject. Fort St. George, June 28, 1806. I have the honour to be, Rev. Sir, your most obedient humble Servant, G. G. KEBLE, To the Right Honourable Lord William C. Bentinck, Governor in Council, &c. &c, "My Lord, "WHEN at Mysore, I was honoured by the receipt of Mr. Secretary Keble's Letter, dated the 28th of June last; and finding my general health much improved, I resolved to proceed to the Malabar coast in search of the information required by your Lordship in Council, regarding the Christians inhabiting that part of the peninsula : an investigation which I have found as interesting as it is important, whether it regards humanity at large, or as it is connected, in a political view, with the British interests in this country. "To view the extensive field pointed out for my enquiries minutely, would require much more of my time than could be well spared from my other public avocations; and as I learned that the Reverend Dr. Buchanan was nominated by the government of Bengal, to travel over the same ground for purposes somewhat similar, I did not think it incumbent on me to take up more than a general view of the subject, and I directed my attention accordingly, not so much to details as to matters of comprehensive import. "The first object to which the orders of government refer is, to An Account of the Introduction of Christianity into this Country. "There can be no doubt whatever, that the St. Thomê Christians settled on the Malabar coast at a very early period of the Christian church; from whence they, at one time, spread in various directions as far even as Mileapoor and St. Thomas's Mount: - but to derive authentic information as to the time of their arrival, is at present no easy task. "From the confusion arising from the imperfection of Hindoo chronology, from the desire which these Christians have to derive their origin from the earliest possible times (which may perhaps have introduced false traditions amongst them) and as all their authentic records are reported to have been destroyed during the persecutions of the church of Rome; from all these circumstances, whether we refer to the Hindoo accounts, to the St. Thomê Christians themselves, or to their persecutors, the Roman Catholics, we are not likely to arrive at any certain conclusion as to the exact time of their establishment in Malabar. Some circumstances, however, may be collected from undoubted autho¬ rity, by which it may be inferred, that they have been for nearly fifteen centuries established in India; for we find, in Ecclesiastical History, that at the first council at Nice, in the year 325, a bishop from India was amongst the number composing that memorable synod; and, in the creeds and doctrines of the Christians of Malabar, internal evidence exists of their being a primitive church; for the supremacy of the Pope is denied, and the doctrine of Transubstantiation never has been held by them; and they regarded, and still regard the worship of images as idolatrous, and the doctrine of Purgatory to be fabulous; -moreover, they never admitted as sacraments, extreme unction, marriage, or confirmation: all which facts may be substantiated on reference to the acts of the Synod established by Don Alexis de Meneses, Archbishop of Goa, at Udiamper, in the year 1599. "The history of this council will be found most ably detailed in a work printed in French, and entitled, "The History of Christianity in India," published at the Hague, in the year 1724, by La Croze, the celebrated Librarian to the King of Prussia. "The object of this work was to deduce, from authentic materials, the rise, progress, and establishment of Christianity in the east; and to hold up to disgrace, and to merited indignation, the bigotted, and unworthy conduct of the Roman Catholic Church, in the persecution set on foot by her emissaries, under her avowed sanction, against the primitive Christians, who were found settled on the coast of Malabar; and La Croze seems to have discharged his duty to the public in a most faithful, interesting, and able manner. "When the Portuguese first arrived in this country, in the beginning of the 16th century, they found a Christian church using the Syrio- Chaldaic language, established in the neighbourhood of Cranganore; and, though it was published to the world many centuries before that period that such a church existed, yet we find their ignorance expressed in the wonder which it excited. "These Christians met the Portuguese as natural friends and allies, and rejoiced at their coming; -but the Portuguese were much disappointed at finding the St. Thomê Christians firmly fixed in the tenets of a primitive church; and soon |