those who made a profession of Christianity. But though he was baptized, though he became a member of the church, a schoolmaster, and was employed as a reader; yet he acknowledges that his heart was hardened, that he indulged in sin, that he resembled a man walking in the dark and likely to tread upon serpents, though he saw no danger, and that he made a sinful use of the ordinances to soothe his conscience, and to preserve him from fear. But by the grace of God, he was led to meditate upon such passages as these, "Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?" "Thou hypocrite! cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote that is in thy brother's eye; and that servant who knew his Lord's will and did it not, will be beaten with many stripes." Such passages filled him with alarm, led him to repentance and deep humiliation of soul; showed him the necessity of a mighty Redeemer, and, enabled by faith to trust in Jesus, he obtained a good hope through grace of the glory that is to be revealed. He is now He is now a truly devoted man; a judicious and prudent assistant upon whom the missionaries can always depend. What a change is produced upon him? and what a change has the village in which he labours, undergone? On his arrival at Mylaudy, he found the hearts of some though they professed Christianity, as hard as stones; but a considerable improvement is visible among the old people, while a few individuals show

that they "are washed and justified and sanctified in the name of Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." Sixteen persons who were members of that congregation, are either regularly or occasionally engaged in making known the truths of the Bible to their countrymen !

Unable to meet the wants of the people, and to propagate the gospel as extensively as they wished by their own exertions, the missionaries soon perceived the necessity of employing the natives to assist them in their work. At first, their chief business was to read the Scriptures in the villages, and thus bring the word of God as a testimony against the works of darkness; but as the readers gained more Christian knowledge, gave evidences of piety, became more bold in their labours, they were allowed to give a reason, to those who asked them, of the hope that was in them with meekness and fear. The example of one operated upon many; the brethren met them occasionally to give them instruction, and to hear their reports; they were furnished with answers to the objections which the heathen were accustomed to make; their gifts and graces increased as well as their number; and though the missionaries are very far from considering their congregations as composed of true Christians, yet it is a delightful sight to see so many who are no longer heathens, but enquirers after the truth. If these be the first fruits; what will be the harvest? But what is the remuneration which these

readers or native teachers receive? They are paid at the rate of ten pounds per annum-a sum which does not equal the wages of a common servant in other parts of India. Now this amount may keep them alive among the poor in Travancore; but is it right, expedient or honourable, that the salary of a teacher should be fixed at the lowest possible grade? Is it likely that persons of character, respectability, and talents will accept of an office which, however honourable in itself, yields only a pittance to its most zealous and most laborious agents? Is it not calculated to lessen the influence of the teachers among the people, and to injure their usefulness, and to furnish a very bad precedent to the converts when they begin to support their own pastors? I know well that it does so in other parts of the country. Nothing is more common than when a friend comes from a distance, and calls upon a Hindoo, that he treats his kinsman or his acquaintance with kindness and generosity; how then must it sink the teachers in the estimation of their countrymen, when they find that they are the only parties, holding a respectable situation, who are unable to show to others the common marks of civility and kindness? But to pass by the contrast which it is impossible to help drawing between these teachers, and the Cattanars among the Syrians in the same district, who are paid at the rate of twenty or thirty pounds a year, as recommended by Mr. Bailey; so small a salary can

only be allowed them, on the supposition that they are a very inferior class of teachers; and it is right the religious public should understand that this amount will scarcely suit the circumstances of any station in India except Travancore; and that if the benevolent wish to support men whose character, piety, talents and usefulness will elevate them above mediocrity in every way, they must abandon the ten-pound system, and afford to their representatives in heathen lands, the means of living in comfort, and in respectability among their own people. As I am a great advocate for native agency, my brother missionaries must pardon these remarks, and attribute them to my anxiety to see our native brethren raised to a higher scale of intelligence, character and usefulness.

But the brethren soon foresaw that it would not be prudent to depend upon adult converts alone, for a supply of readers and teachers. To meet the wants of their congregations, they perceived the necessity of establishing a seminary to prepare native youths for the ministerial work. Many were supported, received a religious education, gave evidence of their devotedness, and went into the villages to hold forth the word of life that others may rejoice in the day of Christ. It is from this nursery that they have been able to fill up their vacant spheres with those who, from their superior education, their general intelligence, and their studious and active habits, have been better qualified,

for their work, than their predecessors. No hours can be too precious, no care can be too assiduous, no exertions can be too many, and no sums too large, to be devoted to those infant institutions which, in India, have for their object the education of native preachers. Nothing would be more unreasonable, than to expect that the people who are just emerging from paganism, or that youths who have been trained up in a heathen land, amongst idolatrous customs and associations, should be on an equality with Europeans in energy, in piety, in acquirements, and in exertions. There will be men who will rise above their neighbours, and excel all their competitors in the race; but these will be exceptions to the general rule. Whatever may be the part of the heathen world in which they dwell, the first race of teachers will not, in the midst of heathens, come up to that high standard which we should wish them to reach; and it can only be through a long course of discipline and experience that they will advance to greater steadfastness, and more daring enterprise. But a beginning must be made, and what cannot be accomplished in the first, we must hope to witness in the second generation; and when I think of what has already been done in Travancore, and of what the present system promises to accomplish, I am surprised that more vigorous efforts are not made at every station to train up an efficient native ministry. Too much at present ought not to be expected.