the Holy Ghost. One would imagine, then, that to these patterns regard would be paid, and that some little trouble would be taken by those interested in the matter to ascertain what were the means by which so much was effected; but, no! regard is more kindly given to modern and untried inventions than to ancient and approved practice; and even when tried and found wanting, there seems no looking back if haply they may light on first principles, but rather a throwing the blame on the all but reprobate condition of the heathen, as if no case of parallel difficulty had been presented to early propagators of the faith, and had been treated with success.

Now, so far from the natives of India being of a different or more degraded stamp than many of those who were brought into the early church, as might be urged by some, I conceive, and I believe I shall be borne out by every one conversant with ancient and ecclesiastical history when I state my conviction, that they were similar people, under very similar circumstances.

It should be borne in mind that we have to do with a people who, in the mass, are a very simple minded race, with but few ideas, which, with their habits and customs, have been handed down from remote ages with a kind of religious tenacity of observance. Let the case be supposed of conversion to Christianity from among such a people; is it in the abstract to be expected that they will at once throw aside as foolish and vain all that they have learned from their forefathers, and at once adopt our customs, and with a tremendous effort raise their habits of thought and mental attainment to a level with ours, which have been the growth of ages of Christianity and philosophy? Surely

not.

Leaving the abstract question, which, thanks be to the Head of the church, we may, what do we find in the actual state of native Christians? Why, that they are generally, save where pains have been taken to dispossess them of many of the laudable and excellent principles of nature, the fair traces of a primitive faith, surviving even the degeneracy of successive generations, and thus turning them adrift on the wide sea of error and infidelity without chart or compass,-generally, I say, they are very attentive and regular in their acts of worship, but having a great inaptitude for learning bare explanations and definitions without something tangible and real to serve as helps, and retaining, in a great degree, their social and civil distinctions, and attached to many of their former customs. Now, let those who, in utter neglect of their many positive acts of piety, would question the Christianity of such a people merely because their habits and other peculiarities do not accord with those generally received in western climes as fit and proper,―let such, I say, examine into many of their own allowed customs, their approved systems of etiquette and courtesy, then let them candidly consider, on the one hand, the real disadvantages of the native Christians of India, and their own superior education, with the no small advantage of the progressive civilization of some centuries on the other; and if the improvement of Christian privileges on the part of the Hindoo be not much greater than that of many who are loud on the subject, I am greatly mistaken.

Seeing, then, that the natives of India are not on the same footing,

and by justice should not be so treated, as the present race of British or other European Christians in respect of previous acquirements and freedom from bias against, and imperfection in the practice of, Christianity, it is worthy of inquiry whether the church has ever had to do with similar cases. There can be little doubt of this; our own land presented to the early apostle, whoever he was, a picture perhaps not very dissimilar to that which in India now greets the eye of the English missionary-a people wedded to the customs of their forefathers, having a sort of natural religion warped from its pristine form; and yet these and other obstacles as mighty were overcome. The cross triumphed, and the little band felt that their Lord's promise (Matt. xxviii. 20) was no idle nor unmeaning one, but a promise of actual fulfilment. And why should it not be so now? Has the church quite lost the spirit and the vigour of the early ages? Is there none among all the sons whom she hath nourished who can be content to lay himself out for this work, and become all things to all men in order to gain some? Two societies, it is answered, have arisen within the church of England to supply the church's place in this undertaking. But, alas! how are their efforts made often to jar, and seldom to work in unison. We have no grand rallying point. We are all aiming, it is true, at one object; and this might be thought sufficient to ensure unity and harmony of action, but it has not hitherto been so; each takes his own view of things and acts accordingly, the sum therefore of the varying acts being equal to the sum of the acts themselves.

The cause of all this, in my opinion, is the novel institution of societies, and the novel principles and practices adopted and sanctioned by them; and all this again has resulted from an imperfect acquaintance with, or proud rejection of, ancient practice.

The only proper missionary society is that holy body instituted by Christ himself, even his church. The only proper principles by which its practice should be regulated are the sacred scriptures, with what may be gathered from the holy men who managed its concerns for the first four or five centuries. All other institutions are intrusions; all efforts for the conversion of the heathen should emanate from the church as a body, and not from a few individuals in that church. I mean not to say that it is not the duty of private Christians to attempt the instruction of the ignorant; but I mean, to be effectual, the grand effort must be made by the church; it is nothing but the machinery of the church which can cope with or prevail against the powers of darkness. To say that a society self-originated has the authority to represent itself as the champion of Christ in a heathen country is almost as little reasonable as that a party of Hindoos should associate for the quelling, in the name of the queen, the Canadian revolt.

There seems to be quite a monomania on the subject of societies and committees in the present day, all too lamentably proving our unhealthy and precarious condition; instead of the ancient mode of reducing the nations to the obedience of the faith, which in our own land we at this day thankfully acknowledge not to have been partially successful, in a district among a few villages, nor yet superficially

so as not to outlive the generation, but we have seen every nook and corner successively permeated by Christian doctrine, and united by Christian fellowship, and we at this day reap the benefit and enjoy the comfort of the hope which was then enjoyed. Instead of this, a novel scheme has been adopted, the effects of which are but too well seen in the disorders in its actual working out, in the squabbles between societies and between the managers of the same society, and in the contempt and disregard of episcopal authority, besides the production among laymen of a desire for the attrectation of sacred things, with, moreover, the manifold evils produced in parishes at home, which are growing rifer and more pernicious every year, I mean the running after preachers who are invited to town or elsewhere to plead, as it is termed, the cause of this or that society, rendering parochial distinctions null and void, and the pastoral relation abortive,—a similar state of things, in fact, to that which preceded the Reformation, when the mendicant orders itinerated through every parish, bringing disorder and discord in their train, between whom and certain itinerants of the present day there exists more than a fancied resemblance.

Now, as regards India, my remedy would be this in outline that country is civilly divided into four presidencies, over three of which there is already a bishop, sent out for the European clergy, or those who minister to European Christians. I would subdivide each present see (as far only as the native or indigenous church is concerned) into suffragan sees, making the present bishop of each presidency or province archbishop or metropolitan, and the Bishop of Calcutta patriarch of the whole Indian church. I would recommend a general synod of the whole church to regulate the liturgy, offices, canons, and constitutions, all of which (though based of course upon our own Anglican model) to be modified according to the climate, customs, languages, and other circumstances of the people for whose use and edification they were intended; for nothing can be more absurd or contrary to the church's meaning than that the same liturgy and ceremonies will be suitable for all places, as may be gathered not only from a little reflection, but also from the Preface to the Book of Common-prayer, on Ceremonies, where I find it stated-"We think it convenient that every country should use such ceremonies as they shall think best to the setting forth of God's honour and glory, and to the reducing of the people to a most perfect and godly living." And again, the language of the 34th Article is, that "It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one and utterly like; for at all times they have been divers, and may be changed according to the diversities of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's word." And, " every particular and national church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish ceremonies or rites of the church ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying."

To proceed, however, somewhat more in detail, we will take the Madras presidency for an example; and it is well suited to our purpose, seeing that the southern portion of it at least is studded pretty

equally with mission stations, at each of which we have a nucleus of a few Christian natives. I would then make each mission station of the two societies the centre of a diocese, consecrate the European missionary bishop, and give him a certain range within which to exercise his episcopal functions. Let us take the Tanjoor mission, which is the eldest, as an illustration. There are in that mission about forty or fifty villages or parishes, inhabited by a few Christians, each of which is under the care of a lay catechist or reader; these the missionaries, who are placed centrally, visit perhaps four times a year. The whole mission occupies a circle having a radius of perhaps forty or fifty miles. The missionaries have of course full control over the catechists, and their visits to each parish are now more like episcopal visitations than aught else, save that confirmation and orders are not administered.

I would abolish the modern order of lay catechists, and would ordain them deacons; on those who by their piety and attainments purchased it I would confer the good degree of the priesthood, and let the rest remain deacons; for if natives are fit as catechists to instruct their fellow-countrymen, expound the word of God, and perform divine service in the house of God, which they now do, they are surely fit to be deacons and priests. Thus should we not expose ourselves to the charge of instituting a new order, or rather of admitting unordered persons to perform sacred offices.

Each bishop, then, in his diocese, (which would be quite a sufficient employ for a faithful administration of its affairs,) would rule his clergy by the church's canons, counsel them, exhort, rebuke them, urge them and their people to holiness of heart and consistency of life, and, in short, perform all things requisite as well for the building up of the native Christians as for extending the church's blessings among the native heathen.

This is as much of the plan as shall be laid open on this occasion; and it is hoped that enough may have been said to serve towards the rectification of our former mistakes. Before, however, this paper is closed, it may be well to state some of the advantages which are likely to attend an improved ecclesiastical mission system.

By some such plan as this we shall act on the ancient model so well adapted for ensuring unity of purpose and action; we shall be sure that we present the same front to the natives of Bengal as to those of southern India; our worship will be conducted in an uniform way; and the taunt of both heathen and Romanists will fall harmless, which have at present much force, when they ridicule the many and great discrepancies in our public worship, and, with a serio-comic countenance, inquire what our church really believes and holds, or whether we have a church at all.

If we value union, have any mind to fulfil the Saviour's express wish, (John, xiv. 20-23,) we shall have a powerful engine in this system; we shall thus take our stand on ancient and acknowledged principles, which will give us a claim to be heard by all the eastern churches, and we shall have so pure and holy a faith and worship as may not fail to do good to the decayed churches of Christ. Once

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get the church of India well organized, and a standard church is raised which will have a similar effect on the surrounding weak and decayed churches to that which Rome exercised in her best days. England occupies the same vantage ground now in Christendom which was early and usefully possessed by imperial Rome. Let the Anglican church in the west, and her daughter, the Indian, in the east, exert herself, not only among those where Christ is not named, but let them seek to restore to their ancient standing those churches which have long drooped, and retrim, or cause to be retrimmed, the flame of piety which has well nigh gone out upon their altars. Oh, there is a great work for our Indian church to achieve; great events are before her. It remains only that she array her own forces, and buckle on her armour to the conflict. In the south-western border of South India there is, as is known to most Christians, a church which anciently had no connexion with Rome, but which has ever had communion with one of the chief oriental churches, now professedly with Antioch. There have been for some years attempts made by a body of English presbyters (in connexion with the Church Missionary Society) in order to restore this church to a scriptural practice, and to induce the metran, or bishop, to change some customs which by us are looked upon as superstitious and vain. The experiment has not succeeded, I will not say from the fault of the agents themselves, for with this I have no wish to meddle, but the great reason seems to me to be that they were out of their place. They had no authority delegated to them from the church to treat with another church, and without this their interference in rites and ceremonies would very naturally be regarded by the Syrian bishop as unjustifiable; to say they were ministers of the church of England is nothing to the purpose, as the cortanen, or native priests, might with as good reason visit England and remonstrate with our venerated primate on the alleged simplicity of our worship.

"No change," say the Syrians, "can be effected in our customs without the sanction of the patriarch of Antioch, to whom we owe subjection; what he says, we say." Now, on a more ecclesiastical footing, the Indian church would, as a sister, use her influence with the Bishop of Antioch; and thus through that quarter we might better raise the Syrians of Travancore, and by this means do no violence to their reverence for authority, which can never be regarded otherwise than as a step fraught with danger, and one which never has issued in good to the church, but has often introduced anarchy and schism, and every evil work.

With respect to India generally, or those inhabitants of it by intercourse with whom I have been led to form my opinion I would say, if the conversion of this country be wished, it must be by a •hurch well detailed and organized, so as fitly and advantageously to supplant Hindooism. Those who have observed and mingled much with natives of India, know full well their timidity of character, how they dread being cast out of all intercourse with their fellows, how they cling to what has the sacred stamp of antiquity, how entwined with their every-day habits and social intercourse are their present