is enough surely to call forth the sympathy of any true Churchman at home. We trust that an appeal, apparently so well sustained by facts, will not be made in vain; and we gladly observe from the newspapers that the Bishop has entered upon active proceedings in the direction here pointed out.

Colonial, Foreign, and Home News.

SUMMARY.

THE Consecration of St. John's Cathedral, NEWFOUNDLAND, took place on September 21st.

The venerable Bishop of NOVA SCOTIA arrived at Liverpool on the 17th October. His Lordship has undertaken the voyage home at the instance of his physicians, who hope that a season of repose in his native land may help to recruit a frame exhausted by labour and anxiety, as much as by old age. He has a double precedence among the Colonial Bishops, both with respect to his consecration, which took place in 1825, and as presiding over the oldest Colonial Diocese, the see of NOVA SCOTIA having been erected in 1787. The Bishop of MONTREAL was installed in his Cathedral of Christ Church on September 15th. In the course of the service thanks were offered for the Bishop's safe voyage. His Lordship preached from St. Luke ix. 57. The Montreal Courier says :-"The sermon was one of the most impressive we ever heard, pronounced in a clear and penetrating voice, so that not a word could have escaped the hearers, even in the remotest part of the large and crowded church. He alluded in affecting language in the latter part of his sermon to the fact, that he had himself, in the words of the text, followed what he presumed to be the command of his Lord, in leaving the home of his fathers to accept the charge of a portion of His Church in this distant land, and trusted that every good man would remember him in his prayers, and endeavour to aid him in his sacred mission. This portion of the sermon caused evident emotion amongst many of the congregation, who felt, like the Bishop, that they too were strangers in a strange land, far from the homes and graves of their fathers." The Bishop of QUEBEC has addressed to his Clergy an able and spirited letter on the recent attempt in the Legislative Assembly to effect an alienation of the Clergy Reserves. On September 22d his Lordship admitted four gentlemen to the order of Deacons-Messrs. T. Pennefather, F. A. Smith, J. Constantine, and F. De la Mare; the two latter were students of Bishop's College, Lennoxville. We hail with much pleasure the appearance of the first number of the New Brunswick Churchman, a monthly periodical, published by Mr. J. S. Coy, FREDERICTON. The Bishop of TORONTO embarked at Liverpool, on 19th October, for his Diocese. During his stay in England, he has succeeded in collecting nearly 10,000l. towards the proposed Church University.

The Annual Convention of the American Church met at Cincinnati on October 2d. CALIFORNIA now is said to contain 250,000 inhabit

ants speaking the English tongue, amongst whom are 7 Clergymen and 120 Dissenting ministers. The Clergy and lay-members of the Church have met for the purpose of organizing a Diocese, and have elected the Right Rev. H. Southgate their first Bishop. It is said, however, that some difficulties stand in the way of his acceptance of the office. The Rev. F. S. Mines has returned for a time to New York.

The Bishop of MADRAS admitted, on September 1st, to the order of Deacons, Messrs. J. L. Regel and D. Savaramootoo; and to the order of Priests, the Rev. C. Aroolappen: all three are Missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The Bishop is now on his first visitation tour to Tinnevelly, Madura, Tanjore, &c. We have perused with much pleasure the first number of the Madras Quarterly Missionary Journal, printed for the above-named Society. We hope to become from time to time debtors to its valuable pages.

NEWFOUNDLAND.-Perils by Sea.-In our last number (page 158) we mentioned the consecration of a new church at Burin. The following extract from a private letter referring to that event was read by J. H. Markland, Esq., at a public meeting at Bath, on Oct. 3d. The letter was addressed to his father, by the Rev. H. Tuckwell, the Bishop's chaplain. "The next day I was busily engaged in examining candidates for confirmation until after sunset, and greatly pleased was I with the poor people. Speaking to each of them in private, I could speak more freely to them, and they to me; and their knowledge in many points of Christian doctrine would shame some possessed of far greater opportunities and means of knowing the things necessary for the soul's health. There are about four hundred Church-of-England people in this and the adjacent harbours-all sheep without a shepherd; most of them had never seen a Bishop, and a Clergyman but twice or thrice in the year, and he a Deacon. In Dild's Cove, a mile from New Harbour, there is almost a colony of Prettys, simple-minded folk, who were commended to my mind by their being descended from Samuel Pretty, a native of Chard, in my native county. You can scarcely imagine the interest it inspires within one to visit such people as these without a pastor, and the pain of leaving them to continue, at least for a while, in their former state. But I must not go on, or I shall not have time to tell you of my late trip. On Wednesday, the 31st July, the Bishop, myself, Mr. Boland, and two students, Messrs. Walsh and Coombe, set out in the Church ship for Burin, about 160 miles distant, hoping to reach it on Saturday at the latest, that the new church might be consecrated on Sunday." After describing the fogs in which they were enveloped, he proceeds-" We found ourselves close upon an island; the Bishop was the first man in the boat, the mate and ten sailors followed, with the hope of being able to pull her head round away from the rock, our poor incompetent captain crying out, She must go, nothing can save her,' and he himself doing nothing. Through God's mercy, they succeeded in pulling her off, but we then found ourselves close upon another and a larger rock; down went the anchor, and there we lay, close to these rocks, knowing that if any wind should spring up, the vessel, humanly speaking, must be lost, and probably our lives also. The Bishop spoke very solemnly to us all about the danger we were in, and exhorted us to prepare for the worst, arranging to administer the Holy Communion to us at midnight. It was a solemn time, I assure you, the most solemn period in my life-the first time that I had ever really and soberly

contemplated my own death, leaving wife and children, father and mother, and all earthly props and stays, and looking forward to meet the Judge of all. This, however, is not a thing to write about; if I was troubled and anxious, (though I bless God I was quite calm and collected,) what must the Bishop's feelings have been-he on whom so many depend-he who has indeed a fatherly care for all the churches committed to his charge, and who is approving himself as a true successor of the Apostles, in all labours and perils, not lacking that token of an Apostle, that he is reviled and spoken against? May God turn the hearts of all his slanderers! The benefit of his example is beyond, far beyond my feeble powers to express. It was not till noon, on Monday, that we knew where we were, by the timely arrival of a fisherman, who guided us into Laun Harbour."

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CAPETOWN.-The Zoolus.-A letter from the Bishop, dated Pietermauritzberg, June 28th, states that there are within the District of Natal not less than 115,000 heathens, who have fled from the persecution and tyranny of the Chief Panda, king of the Zoolus, and placed themselves under British rule and protection. They offer," says the Bishop, as interesting and important and promising a field for a Church Mission as any part of the world that I am acquainted with. In a few short years, if nothing is done, the case will be greatly altered: we shall have allowed the season of our, and it may be of their probation to pass by unheeded-have shown ourselves unfaithful to our trust-and lose for ourselves, I verily believe, the favour and blessing of God." The Bishop has already taken the first steps for organizing a Mission, and we hope that the details of an extensive plan will be soon laid before the public.

UNIVERSITY SERMONS FOR THE COLONIAL CHURCH.-The name of the munificent founder of these annual sermons had not (we believe) been made public before it was mentioned at a Meeting in aid of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, held at Bath, on October 3. Mr. Markland in the course of his speech said, "Allusion had twice been made to a deceased friend of his (Mr. Markland's)—Mrs. Ramsden. That lady had not only recorded her attachment to the Society in her will, but, during the last nine years of her life, large sums had passed through his hands in aid of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, or for the benefit of particular Colonial Bishops; and he would avail himself of this opportunity, in the presence of the Bishop of the Diocese, and at the first Diocesan Meeting which had occurred after her death, to state that, although it was at his own suggestion, the endowment for the two sermons on the subject of Church extension in our Colonies and dependencies, to be annually preached in our Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, was provided by the sole munificence of the late Mrs. Charlotte Ramsden, of Bath. That excellent woman, whose charity was equalled by her humility, strictly forbade her name to be published, and in communicating his (Mr. Markland's) proposal to the Parent Society, he used these words, The means for accomplishing these objects were placed at my disposal by an aged and valuable friend of mine, one "full of good works and almsdeeds," a steady supporter of our Society, but whose name I am not at liberty to mention.' She was now called to her rest, and was out of the reach of human praise; therefore he (Mr. Markland) had a most cordial desire that this good work of hers should be known, not only in the city, but throughout this country and the Colonies.'

It is with much regret that we announce the death of the Bishop of Nova SCOTIA. He expired at No. 5, Curzon-street, May Fair, on Sunday, the 27th October.

THE

COLONIAL CHURCH CHRONICLE

AND

Missionary Journal.

DECEMBER, 1850.

MISSIONS OF THE CHURCH IN TINNEVELLY.

No. VII.

IN my last I led your readers to the entrance of the native Christian village of Nazareth. As we rode up the street that evening, I kept repeating to myself," This is a Christian village, and in India too.' It seemed hard, after what I had seen in Madras, to realize it.

At the head of the principal street there is an open space, on the north of which is the Missionary's residence and garden, while on the west stands the Church, and on the other sides the village school-houses and the girls' boarding-school. All these buildings are very plain and simple in their character. The village is surrounded by groves of palmyra trees, some of which being planted in right lines mark out the boundaries of the Mission village. The whole is the property of the Mission, and yields a small yearly revenue. One of the first things with which I was struck was the sound of the church bell, which every day, morning and evening, summonses the people to common prayers.

The custom of opening the churches and prayer-houses in all the villages for daily service, was commenced, I believe, in the Tranquebar and Tanjore Missions by the Danish and German Missionaries, and has been, thank God, everywhere maintained ever since. The men generally come only in the evening, being obliged to be very early at their work, and in like manner the women attend the morning service and seldom in the evening, as it is not considered proper for women to be out after nightfall. In connexion with this I must mention the fact that I have often found people in the habit of coming to church before. going to their work, or setting out on a journey, or commencing

NO. XLII.

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any new undertaking, and kneeling down to say a short prayer in the house of God. This I have always encouraged.

The numerous engagements of the Missionary too often prevent him from conducting the services himself. I have long felt convinced that these matters are left in many cases too much in the hands of our native Catechists. An increase in the number of the ordained Missionaries and the growth and perfecting of our system will by degrees remedy this, doubtless.

The day after my arrival, I rode out with Mr. Caemmerer to see the surrounding villages, in most of which there are Christian congregations, some of them, in fact, being wholly Christian. In each of them I found a neat little prayer-house and Catechist's residence. Mr. Caemmerer's prayer-houses have always been remarkable for neatness. A little avenue of trees for the most part leads to them, the ground around them is kept in order, they are regularly whitewashed (there is no stone-work to be hidden thereby), and all the interior fittings are in most exemplary order. At least four of these prayerhouses have since that time been exchanged for goodly and substantial churches, of which more will be said hereafter.

Many of my most cherished remembrances are connected with Nazareth. In that church I preached my first Tamil sermon in Tinnevelly. The church is a quaint-looking one, without tower or belfry, (the bell being hung in a little detached archway,) having in the front a porch supported by stone pillars, through which you enter the body of the building, which is divided into nave and side aisles, lighted by square-headed windows, with a small chancel, and a stand which served at that time both for reading-desk and pulpit. The floor is of chunam, which by frequent use has become exceedingly bright and slippery. Of course there are neither forms, nor pews, nor chairs. Iron lamps are (or were then) suspended from the roof. This church was designed and built, I believe, altogether by natives. When I preached there that day the church was crowded. There was not the order and propriety of demeanour which Mr. Caemmerer has been able since that time to introduce, but still it was a very pleasing sight, and the sound of many voices singing the hymn was to me very affecting. One verse of the hymn I recollect well. The following is a literal translation of it:

The old Tanjore hymn-book, which has been the foundation of almost all the others in use in South India, was composed by Fabricius, that great and holy man, in whom zeal and fervour