and the authority of superiors, to controul them in their wicked and destructive career!

Will it be said, that Government, since it does not sanction, is not responsible for their crimes? No; that cannot justly be pleaded, until every preventive means has been employed. The Ecclesiastical Establishment in India, though extensive, and a great blessing to the country, is yet inadequate.-But this is too important a subject to be treated of in the concluding observations of the present Work. I shall, therefore, confine myself to one point; viz. The due observance of the Sabbath. To the habitual violation of that Sacred Day, may be traced the major part, if not the whole, of the evils of which we complain. Until men have so renounced the authority of God as to disregard His command to consecrate the Sabbath to holy employments, they will not abandon themselves to an unrestrained course of iniquity: but when once accustomed to profane the Holy Day of Rest, the transition to every other sin is easy and natural. I conceive, then, that proper attention to this important duty will contribute greatly to obviate the demoralizing tendency of Eastern habits and indulgence. The means to promote this desi

rable end are few, obvious, and easy to be adopted.

First-Divine Service should be publickly performed on the morning and evening of the Sabbath, at every Station. If there be no Chaplain, the Senior Officer, Civil or Military, should be required to read, or empowered to appoint a junior to read, the Service, and a Discourse. Even where there are but two or three Officers at the Station, they should not neglect this duty. It may be objected, that it is enough, in the case of so small a number, for each individual to retire to his room, and perform his devotions in private: but this is to forget, or undervalue, the gracious promise of the Divine Presence and Blessing vouchsafed to "two or three assembled together in" the Name of God. No individual who feels the importance and privilege of Prayer, will neglect private devotion, because required to unite with one or more individuals in the Public Service of the Church; or think that the one duty should supersede the other. It would also defeat another object in the public performance of Divine Worship, viz. to let the Natives see that we are not so regardless of Religion, as they have hitherto had too much reason to think us. And thus may we hope to remove

that suspicion of us as an Atheistical People, which an inattention to Religious Ordinances has produced in their minds.

At some Military Stations, this duty is attended to. This was the case at Palamcottah, previous to my arrival there as Chaplain. The Commanding-Officer, the late Colonel Charles Trotter, required all the Military Officers to assemble for Divine Worship; and two or three of the Civilians joined them, until deterred by the ridicule of their companions.

Secondly-For the due performance of Divine Service, a Chapel should be built at every Station. At present, all the Chaplains' Stations are not provided with Places of Worship. That this desideratum should be supplied with the least possible delay, few will hesitate to allow and, in reference to the erection of a small Chapel at every other Station, I shall adopt the suggestion of a late Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army (General M'Dowall). That Officer had been addressed by the Government of Fort St. George, desiring to know from him whether there was any truth in the report, that the Mutiny at Vellore was occasioned by attempts made to convert the Natives to Christianity. To which he replied

"It may occasion some degree of surprise, that the people of this country should be brought to believe, that those who apparently conduct themselves with so much apathy in respect to what concerns Religious Worship, should have formed any serious scheme for the converting whole nations, of different castes and persuasions, to the Christian Faith. None but the weakest and most superstitious could have been deluded by so improbable a tale: and, accordingly, we find the rumour alluded to was by no means general; and, except at Hydrabad, it had made little or no impression.

"In making the above remark on the indifference which is manifested in the Adoration of the Supreme Being, I must add, in justice to the Military Character, that it chiefly proceeds from a want of places (and, at several Stations, of Clergymen) exclusively appropriated for Divine Service: and I trust I shall be excused, if I suggest the propriety of having convenient Chapels, of moderate price, constructed in all situations within the Company's Territories, where European Troops are likely to be quartered. Whatever may be urged to the contrary, I am convinced that such an improvement, independent of the obvious advantages, would ren

der the British Character more respected by the Natives, and be attended by no evil consequences.'

The whole of this Official Communication was published by the late Dr. Buchanan, in his "Apology for promoting Christianity in India." Since, however, the Vellore Mutiny continues to be ascribed to attempts to convert the Natives, and knowing that the judicious suggestion and observations of General McDowall, though made nearly eighteen years ago, have not yet been attended to, I shall not apologise for supporting my position by the copious Extract transcribed above.

A Third point for consideration is, The supplying of every Chapel with a large Bible and Prayer-Book, the Book of Homilies of the Church of England, Religious Discourses, and such other Publications, as Government, or the Bishop of Calcutta, may think proper to select.

Fourthly-Particular orders should be issued against the transacting of public business on the Sabbath. Notwithstanding the Regulations that already exist to this effect, and the close of Public Offices at the Presidencies, and of all Judicial Courts, it is a fact, that some Gentlemen, situated in the interior,