in the Sawyerpooram Seminary is now upwards of eighty.

MADRAS MISSIONS.

The Mission Returns for the half year ending 31st December, 1845, show a total of twenty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven souls under Christian instruction, of whom sixteen thousand six hundred and eighty-nine are baptized.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.

It is most gratifying also to notice, in connexion with this document, the large number of 209 Christian Schools, containing 4779 boys and 1326 girls, giving a total of 6105 children receiving a sound Christian education, suited to their station and circumstances; while in several of these institutions the higher branches of learning are being introduced, as circumstances permit.

In the two Seminaries of Tanjore and Tinnevelly are nearly 150 native youths, who are at the same time under careful training with a view to the future employment as ministers of Christ, catechists, or schoolmasters, of as many of these young men as shall evince dispositions and qualifications suitable for these offices.

It affords us much satisfaction to observe, that several substantial and spacious churches are under construction for the larger congregations, some of which number not less than a thousand souls; and that while the Gospel is preached, and divine ordinances administered in upwards of 200 congregations of native Christians and catechumens, increasing efforts are used to promote the education of the rising generation in all useful knowledge, and especially in that which "maketh wise unto salvation."

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel maintains in the province of Tinnevelly five Clergymen, seventy-five Catechists, and fifty-three Schoolmasters.

EXAMINATION OF A MAN WHO DESIRED TO BE BAP

TIZED.

(From Notes of a Visit to the Northern Villages, by the Rev. G. U. Pope.)

At 11 A.M. Mr. Scott examined the people in their

lessons, after which I prayed with them, and had a long and interesting conversation with those of the congregation who manifested a desire for immediate baptism. One man, named Gnánamuttu, who has been under instruction about eighteen months, showed a remarkable degree of intelligence and sincerity. The following is a⚫ part of the conversation between him and myself:

Missionary. You are desirous of baptism, but why? Catechumen. Because I wish to enter the Church of

Christ.

M. This is a good desire, but do you know what is required of one who is baptized, and made a member of Christ's Church?

C. He must renounce the devil and the world, idolatry and vain fables, and all earthly delusions, and trust in Christ.

M. And believe?

C. All the Gospel.
M. And how live?

C. According to God's commandments and the Holy Vedam.

M. In what particulars must he reform his life?

C. He must renounce lies, rest on the Sabbath, learn all the lessons, live honestly, and pray.

M. And thus by his merits he will obtain salvation?
C. No. What merit? He is a sinner.

M. Then how can he be saved?

What else?

C. By the merits and grace of Jesus Christ.

M. This is good doctrine. But who is Jesus Christ? C. The Son of God, the Saviour of the world.

M. How is He the Saviour of men?

C. He suffered, and died for them.

M. And how is salvation the result of his sufferings and death?

C. He suffered the punishment of our sins; He bore it all, and expiated sin.

M. And for whom did He suffer?

C. For all men.

M. Then all men will be saved?

C. No only those who lay hold on Christ.
M. And those who do not trust in Christ?

C. Will eternally perish through their sins.

M. What differences do you see between Christianity and Heathenism?

C. Heathenism teaches lies; Christianity the truth. Heathenism teaches men to worship devils; Christianity the true God. Heathenism makes men wicked; Christianity makes them holy. The heathen have no Saviour. M. Can heathenism save a man?

C. No. Heathens do not know what heaven is; they think that man perishes when he dies.

M. Not all?

C. All about here think so. They say that man is a compound of the five elements (fire, earth, water, air, and ether), and that when he dies these are scattered. They say that the soul is like air in a vessel, and when the vessel is broken it mingles with the atmosphere.

M. But that which thinks, and reasons, and feels; is that also in their opinion only an element?

C. So they think; and since they know nothing of God, or the Vedam, or another world, how can they be saved?

M. When will Christ come again?

C. At the last day, to judge the world.

M. Well: what do you know about the judgment?

C. When Christ comes, He will assemble all men before his throne, and award to every man according to his works the righteous He will receive into heaven, the wicked He will send away into hell.

M. What is heaven?

C. God's dwelling-place: it is glorious and holy.
M. What is hell?

C. The place where the wicked are tormented for ever, and which burneth with fire and brimstone.

Christianity is here among all classes the Vedam'. The Heathen enumerate four religions: Hinduism, Mahomedanism, Romanism, and the Vedam or Christianity. To become a Christian is to enter the Vedam; to come under instruction is to learn the Vedam; to be a Christian, is to be a Veda-Karan-a Vedam-man. This quite

1 Vedam is the word by which the Indians mean the Bible.

accords with Chillingworth's famous saying, "The Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants;" and it is doubtless the result of the continual holding up of the Bible to the people as the record of all Divine and saving truth, on the part of the missionaries of the Church.

SAWYERPOORAM.

The Female Boarding School contains twenty girls, who are making very satisfactory progress.

Three girls have left the boarding-school, as arrangements have been made for their marriage; and it is desirable that they should have time to become accustomed to household work. They are very promising girls, and I feel assured that their influence will be beneficial among their relatives.

The Adult Sunday Schools are becoming very useful, and the number in attendance, though very fluctuating, is large and increasing. Many private members of the Sawyerpooram congregations are in the habit of taking notes of the Sunday forenoon sermon, and are generally able to give an excellent account of it in the afternoon, at school.

AVARANGKA ́DU.

At noon the congregation assembled for service. Their improvement in their lessons, and in the general knowledge of Scripture, is satisfactory. Several of the people are very anxious for baptism, and in a few months I hope to administer it to many among them.

After service the whole of the men of the congregation came to offer a little present of plantains, as usual. They told me that they were at peace with all their neighbours, and improving in worldly circumstances, and that their becoming Christians had been every way a blessing to them. I showed them how, by steady industry and prudence, by avoiding quarrels and disputes, and by exercising their faculties, they might gradually rise to a state of greater respectability and comfort.

Their collec

Fruits of true conversion in the heathen. tion of money for Christian purposes. The Native Gospel Society held its anniversary on New-year's day. The following is the statement of the receipts of this Society during the past year :

RS.

Balance in the hands of Treasurer, 1st Jan. 218 Subscriptions, donations, interest, and miscellaneous income

A.

3

402 2

620 5

It was resolved again to present a donation of fifty rupees each to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the Palamcottah Book and Tract Societies, and the Madras Bible Society.

In addition to these sums, 150 rupees were given to assist in the purchase of communion-plate for the district; 150 rupees for the formation of a lending-fund for the relief of poor Christians; 10 rupees for the immediate relief of the poor; and the balance (110r. 5a.) for the support of female education in the district.

The speech of one of the private members of a native congregation, delivered at the meeting, is so much to the point, that I insert a translation of it from the original Tamil. The person who delivered this speech was two years ago a heathen, and an opponent. He was baptized last year, confirmed in September last, and admitted to the Lord's Supper on Christmas-day.

Translation of the speech of Santhosham, head man of the congregation in Paliangkádu, at the annual meeting of the Native Gospel Society.

Resolution.-"That it is the duty of Christians to promote the spread of true learning and knowledge, and especially the knowledge of God's holy word."

"The acquisition of learning is to all a good and useful thing. He who is without learning is ignorant and foolish. Study is the foundation of wisdom and know