prove advantageous to the stations, to which they must ultimately return on the completion of their education. My schools and congregations are very encouraging. During the recent session of the Supreme Court, Sir Anthony Oliphant, the Chief Justice, has visited us, and expressed his very high approbation of the plans we have in operation on this station. On Friday evening last, Sir Anthony presided at a public meeting, held at St. Paul's, for the formation of an association to be called "The Jaffna Native Improvement Society." It has been mainly originated by my young men, some of whom spoke admirably on the occasion in English. Mr. Gabriel Mullookishna, whom I have often mentioned in my communications, is the Secretary. Some of the most respectable and influential natives in the province were present. I trust it may stimulate the young men to diligence in the cultivation of their minds. Mr. Stott is now quite well. Mr. Atherton, from whom I heard yesterday, says, "Our prospects are still good. Opposition has ceased on all sides, and the way of the Lord is being made plain all over the country. No doubt there will be a grand Come over' in a short time: but the want of the second Missionary at Carrewago is felt. There are forty or more baptized: there are already two classes; and every thing seems ready." We trust, on their arrival, that your new Extract of a Letter from the Same, THE Overland which arrived yesterday brought us the "Stations" and a letter, dated August 31st. Gratifying indeed is the announcement they convey. Mr. Stott will be able to prosecute his labours at Batticaloa under very favourable circumstances; and the Missionary who comes to his help will have his "entrance among us" under auspices that fall to the lot of but few. We may hope that proportionable advantages will result to the great cause. Mr. Stott is now recovered; but I am informed that he is still feeble. Could you have sent us another man, Point-Pedro might be made more of, than under present circumstances. It is to be regretted that you have to complain of the want of funds, and that the deficiency involves such consequences to the work. I am seriously meditating on the expediency of doing something that shall, if possible, enable us to sustain another man with the amount you allow List of Stations will show an addition to the number of labourers. Our interests are placed in great jeopardy by the present scanty supply. Mr. Stott's health has been so feeble for some months, as to threaten his removal from the District. Nothing but the most imperious necessity would lead him to abandon his post, I am sure; yet, in case that necessity should arise, we could not supply his place. And, on the supposition that some one were sent out, he could not be qualified to enter fully upon Mr. Stott's labours for a long time to come. But why should I occupy your time and my own by any attempt to elucidate what is so obviously clear? The question respecting the appointment of an agent for our female school, has been before me almost constantly since I last wrote; and I am inclined to think that Mrs. Percival, with her present helpers, can conduct our female establishment efficiently. Had we a lady from England at the head of our schools, we could not maintain the subordinate agents now employed, nor could she, as a stranger, fill up their places. Under all circumstances, I think it would be the most advisable to make the 'best of local help, and thus improve it. The advantages in point of economy, and the superior acquaintance with the state of things in the country, possessed by those raised up on Mission-stations, are very great recommendations. dated Jaffna, October 14th, 1843. us. The One of the measures would be, obtaining aid from Her Majesty's School Commission for the Point-Pedro, Cattavelly, and Jaffna English Schools. Rules they have recently adopted to encourage co-operation in this department are liberal, and will allow of a full exercise of the influence we now exert over our schools. If the English schools were adopted by the Commission on our four stations, we should have a surplus of £150 per annum. With this we could afford another man, including his travelling, &c. Had we a young Missionary of good abilities at Jaffna, Point-Pedro could be made much more efficient than at present, and every department of our work would be strengthened. Puttoor, men. tioned in my last, is advancing favourably. The school is increasing in numbers, and contains also a few girls. inhabitants have contributed, for the roofing of the old church, about seventy The palmira-trees. The building is about I men of great promise; but I am afraid, such are the circumstances of this country, that I shall have to mourn over failures among them. The temptation to leave Mission-school work for that of Government is just in the ratio of qualification for either. Governmentservice is, in many cases, preferred, not only on account of the greater emoluments that can be obtained, but because it implies no particular moral restraint. PATRONAGE OF IDOLATRY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON. CEYLON.-Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Robert Spence Hardy, I HAVE requested Mr. Anthoniez to send you, by the present overland, a proof of the first sheet of "The Friend" for this month; which, you will see, contains an account of an exhibition in Kandy, that is likely to do immense injury to the cause of God in this island, as well as in the more distant countries of Burmah and Siam. It is surprising, that, although the interference of Government in heathen festivals has been prohibited in India, it should be permitted to continue in Ceylon. The apathy which exists on the subject among the churches here is yet more surprising: it makes me sometimes think that I must be indulging in some monomania. THE DALADA RELIC, OR THE TOOTH OF BUDHU. THERE is at Kandy a piece of ivory, or some similar substance, said by the Budhists to be a tooth of Budhu. This relic is under the care of the Government Agent of the central province. The tooth, enclosed in a splendid shrine, is guarded at night by a sentinel from the Ceylon rifles, a regiment which is principally composed of Malays, (who, it is needless to say, are Mahometans,) under European officers. The principal servants in charge of the temple, as well as the Priests who officiate, are appointed by our Christian Government; and one of them at least, Don S. Perera, an aratchy, is paid for the services he performs out of the colonial revenue. Thus the Government is to all intents and purposes the grand patron of the temple; the keys are under the care of its servants; the doors are opened and shut at its command; it appoints the person who has charge of the relic; and the place is guarded by one of its soldiers, in the same way as the pavilion of the Governor, the commissariat stores, or any other building belonging to the Queen. King of Siam. The narrative of the ceremony is as follows:- "His Excellency the Governor and several ladies and gentlemen appeared at the shrine, in the Malegawa, about three o'clock, when the Dewa Nillema, the principal Chief of the temple, requested the acting Government Agent, Mr. Buller, to hand over the key of the shrine to the Nayeka Unanse, or Chief Priest; which he (the Government Agent) did, after receiving His Excellency's permission both the Chief Priests of the Malwatta and Asgerie handed the key to Kobakkadowa Anunayeka Unanse, and directed him to open the shrine; which he did, assisted by the Dewa Nillema and Kareyekorenerallees. The outer On the 27th of March last there was a public exhibition of the tooth, in consequence of the presentation of offerings by a number of Siamese Priests, who have recently visited the island on a kind of pilgrimage, as a deputation from the most cover of the shrine was removed by the Chief Priest of the Asgerie Wihara; the third by the Chief Priest of the Malwatte Wihara; the fourth, fifth, and sixth by Kobakkadowa Anunayeka Unanse; when in the seventh, which was left open, appeared the relic, tied to the stamens of golden flowers, which was taken by Kobakkadowa Anunayeka Unanse, and placed upon a tray made of gold, held by the two Chief Priests, and brought to the hall of the temple, when it was laid by them upon a table. The Government Agent, Mr. Buller, then standing upon the threshold of the temple, directed the Dewa Nillema to call the Priests who had come from Siam, and allow them to pay their respects; he also directed that the peace-officers should see that the crowd be kept off, lest any danger should happen on account of the press of the people. Silence being proclaimed, the Siam Priests had ample time given to pay their adorations; and His Excellency the Governor, the ladies, and other gentlemen, soon retired, being unable to remain any longer at the spot, owing to the smallness of the room in which the relic was placed. His Excellency the Governor, on seeing the relic, observed to a gentleman of his suite that it resembled a piece of carved ivory, and that it was his firm belief that it was not the identical tooth of a human being, but a piece of ivory carved so as to resemble a tooth; and jocularly cautioned Mr. Buller to be careful that it did not fly off to heaven. "The Siam Priests were allowed to view the relic for about half an hour, during which time they took a model of its form in wax. After this the Dewa Nillema requested that Mr. Buller would allow the eager multitude, who were standing below, to pay their adorations also; which was granted. But it appeared to Mr. Buller that on account of the lateness of the hour, the relic could not be kept out so long as to allow the whole multitude to come and adore it so he called the Chiefs and Priests, and told them that it would be entirely impossible for him to remain there, as he was unwell, and that the relic should be immediately encased; but the Chiefs and Priests begged that they might be allowed to take it to the outer verandah of the temple, and place it upon a table, so as to allow the whole multitude to gaze at the wonderful tooth. To this Mr. Buller consented; and the relic was so removed by the Chief Priests, and kept there until half-past five o'clock, all the time the people crying Sādu, and making offerings of money, &c. "About half-past five o'clock, Mr. Buller (who was all the time in attendance at the place, and together with several other gentlemen diverted himself with the curious workmanship of the cases of the shrine) ordered Dehegama Ratte Mahatmaya and the Dewa Nillema to cause the Chief Priests to remove the relic, and place it in the shrine as it was formerly, and to lock it up, delivering the keys into his hand; which was accordingly done. Mr. Buller, with the others, then retired." We think that no one who believes in the truth of revelation, and has attentively studied it in all its parts, can read even this very guarded account of the ceremony, without feelings of poignant grief. There is evidently an unnatural connexion between our Government and the idolatry of the land; and the church is called upon to expose the evils resulting therefrom, until they have ceased to exist. The whole system is essentially wrong; and so long as it is permitted to continue, scenes like the present will be exhibited from time to time, the remembrance of which may pass away from the mind of the individuals by whom they are carried on, but the event will be written in God's book, never to be erased until a severe penalty has been exacted for the transgression. We have argued the general question in the pamphlet on "The Government of Ceylon and Idolatry," and shall therefore not again enter into it at present. The occasion on which the relic was exposed is cause of additional regret. The evil that has been produced will not be confined to our own subjects alone; it will spread to another and more numerous population. The banks of the Irawaddy, as well as the palaces of Bankok, will re-echo the intelligence, that in Ceylon Budhism is patronized by the British Government. The King of Burmah will rejoice in the decree he has sent forth that no Missionary operations shall be allowed in the country over which he reigns; the Monarch of Siam will regard with still greater indifference the message of the servants of the Cross. Nor let it be supposed that these are imaginary calamities. Not many days gone by, a Priest said exultingly to the Minister at Seedua, "In these parts Budhism is neglected; but it is not so in Kandy; there it receives the respect of English gentlemen high in office." The importance attached to these things by the natives may be further learnt from the fact, that the address of the principal Chiefs and Priests of the Kandian province to J. Layard, Esq., on his resigning the office of Government Agent to C. R. Buller, Esq., contains the following passage :-" Your acquaintance with the customs of our country, and the rites of our religion, enabled us to maintain them without any degree of unnecessary trouble and labour." What has a Christian agent to do with enabling heathen Priests to maintain the rites of their religion? We are not here blaming the individual, but the system. On the same occasion, the address to C. R. Buller, Esq., was commenced by the following avowal : "We have had an auspicious omen of good things to come; and that is, that soon after Mr. Buller's arrival we have had the privilege of seeing our holy relic, which indeed is precursory of many fortunate events; and from that we infer that your administration will prove alike auspicious." When we have asked the reason of the anomalies that are presented by the Government, in its patronage of Budhism, the reply has been, "The treaty; the treaty; " but when we have further asked, "What treaty?" no answer has been given. No treaty that we have ever seen binds the Government to the course it at present pursues. By some, it is said, that the Tooth is kept in our possession, because it is supposed by the natives that the Government which retains it must infallibly be masters of the island. And can the ma jesty of the British empire stoop to so low a degradation, as to allow it to be imagined for a moment, that we can only retain possession of Ceylon so long as this relic is in our hands? The sooner so absurd an idea is annihilated the better. We must at the same time express our regret at seeing in our other colonial print an article headed, "Government Idolatry, forsooth!" Though the act may not, in strictness of speech, be "Government idolatry," we must warn the servants of Christ against allowing their minds to be carried away from the real culpability of the transaction by a war of words. After all the apologies that have been made in its extenuation, with every palliative that can be imagined in its defence, the recent Dalada exhibition is still presented to the world as a flagrant offence against the supreme Ruler of the earth. POSTSCRIPT. Wesleyan Mission-House, Bishopsgate-Street-Within, London, December 18th, 1843. JUVENILE CHRISTMAS AND NEW-YEAR'S OFFERING. WE very earnestly commend to the kind attention of the officers and friends of the Society, and especially to our young friends, the Circular, Addresses, and Cards relating to the effort now to be made in behalf of the Wesleyan Missions. The past year has been one of much encouragement and success, as recorded in our monthly "Notices;" but the support of our Missions has occasioned a great additional expenditure; and now that we look at our accounts with a view to their close for the year, it becomes evident that unless a very great effort be made, which shall be at once general, liberal, and successful, the serious calamity of a new debt is unavoidable. There is yet time to do much let not that time be lost; let each make the cause his own; and, by the blessing of God, the income of the year may be made to meet the expenditure of the year. SUSPENSION OF THE MISSION AT CLOUDY-BAY, WE regret to say, that the letters of Mr. Ironsides confirm the statements made in the public papers concerning the sad and fatal consequences of the conflict which has taken place between a party of Europeans and the native New-Zealanders at Cloudy-Bay. Mr. Ironsides had the melancholy task of interring nineteen Europeans who fell in the struggle. The Christian natives, it is said, abstained from shedding the blood of their fellow-creatures: but, as was to be expected, the whole tribe have disappeared from the neighbourhood where the unhappy affair took place; and the Mission, for the present, is suspended. DEPUTATION OF THE REV. ROBERT YOUNG TO JAMAICA, AND DEPARTURE OF MISSIONARIES FOR THAT ISLAND. Ir will be learned with pleasure, that, at the request of the General Missionary Committee, the Rev. Robert Young has proceeded to Jamaica, in order to attend the approaching Annual Meeting of the Missionaries; and, by personal inspection of the affairs of that most important Mission in its various departments, to afford himself and the Committee the opportunity of offering to the Missionaries such help and counsel as may appear necessary. He embarked at Southampton on the 2d of December. He will shortly be joined by the Rev. Messrs. Hornabrook, Manly, and Stedman, who embarked at Cowes on Tuesday, the 12th of December. Mr. Britten, it is expected, will shortly embark for the same island by another vessel. These valuable Missionaries, together with Mr. Young, are commended to the prayerful remembrance of our friends, that they may be preserved on their respective voyages; and that they may successfully accomplish the work to which, by the grace of God, they have been called and separated. Mr. Young's return to this country is expected in the month of March. Contributions to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, received by the General Treasurers, since our last announcement, to the 18th of December, 1843. Moneys received at the Mission-House. Joseph Kempster, Esq., Gateshead, for the Abokuto, or Un- Mrs. Sarah Kempster, Ditto, for Ditto Master W. J. Kempster, Ditto, for Ditto... બં £. s. d. 0 0 0 J. H. Bowman, Esq., Darlington, for the Understone Mission 20 0 20 0 0 10 10 0 10 0 0 Y. Z., Macclesfield, by the Rev. J. Hardy, for the Understone 500 0 A Friend, in the Bristol North Circuit, for the Understone Friends at Salcombe and Modbury, Kingsbridge Circuit, for Lewis F. Bellot, Esq., for Dahomi A Friend, by the Rev. John Scott, for the Understone Mission Josiah Iles Wathen, Esq., Bedford-Square, for the Badagry Mrs. Sophia Fleming, Exeter, for the Gold-Coast Mission A Tee-Totaller, for the Ashanti and Badagry Missions; by A Friend, Penzance; for the Badagry Mission Mr. George Welpton, Derby, toward the Understone Mission 0 0 John Sillifant, Esq., jun., for African Missions; by the Rev. E. B. W., for the African Missions under the direction of the 5 0 0 |