Furthermore, I hope, if the Lord will, to pass to the cities of Madras, Tanjore, and Trichinopoly, visiting the Churches there that are subject to me. And I desire, with God's pleasure, to pass on thence to salute thee, my brother, and the Churches under thee, that I may be filled with joy, while I behold your order, and am a participator with you in prayers. And if there be any thing more which I have not written, it may be told when I come to thee, for (the daughter of the voice is better than the son of the ink; and) it is a good time when a man speaketh face to face with his friend.

1

This letter is sent unto thee by the hand of a learned and faithful English presbyter, John Doran, one of the presbyters from before me, who proposeth, if thou givest leave, to sojourn in Cottayam, even as the presbyters, Benjamin Bayley, Joseph Fenn, and Henry Baker, have sojourned until now with licence of the godly Bishops of the Church of Malabar, to teach learning and piety to all who thirst after instruction, doing good, and giving no cause of offence. And I beseech thee, brother, for my sake, and the sake of the Gospel of Christ, that thou wouldest receive him as a son and as a faithful servant of our Lord, who is alone, with the Holy Ghost, most high in the glory of God the Father; to Him, therefore, be all honour and dominion for ever. Amen.

Moreover I entreat thee, brother, to beware of the emissaries of the Bishop of Rome, whose hands

1 "The daughter of the voice," in Syrian, means no more than a word. It is a very usual expression for it.

have been dipped in the blood of the Saints, from whose tyranny our Church in England hath been long freed by the blessing of God, and we hope to continue in that freedom for ever; of whom are the Metropolitans of Goa, the Bishop of Cranganor, and he at Verapoli, who have, in time past, done the Indian Church much evil. (I pray that those of thy Churches in Malabar' who are yet subject to these men may arouse themselves, and be delivered from their hands.) Howbeit the Lord desireth not the death of a sinner, but His mercies are over all his works, and He is found of them that sought him not.

Our brother, Mar Abraham, a Bishop of the Armenian nation, who is sent from his Patriarch at Jerusalem, (may God rescue his holy city from the hands of the Ishmaelites,) salutes thee. He also brings a letter which was sent by his hand to thee, from the Syrian Patriarch at Jerusalem, and has not found means, hitherto, of forwarding it to thee at Malabar, and has therefore requested me to send it now to thee. All the Church of Christ that is here salute thee. Salute in my name thy brethren Mar Dionysius, and Mar Philoxenus, with the presbyters and deacons. (William Mill, and Thomas Robinson, presbyters, that write this epistle, in the Lord salute you.)

1

i. e. All Churches of the Syro-Chaldaic ritual, one half of which are under the Romish yoke imposed by the Synod of Diamper.

2 The Ex-metropolitan, who resigned the chair to the last Mar Dionysius, and now lives in voluntary retirement at Codangalongery, or Anhur in the north.

The blessing of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be with you evermore.

Written also in Tamul.

(Signed)

Amen.

REGINALD, BISHOP.

By the help of God let this letter go to the region of Travancore, to the city of Cottayam, and let it be delivered into the hands of the grave and venerable Bishop Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan of the Church of Malabar.

LETTER FROM FATHER ABRAHAM OF JERUSALEM (AN ENVOY SENT WITH VISITORIAL POWERS, BY THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF ARARAT, TO THE EASTERN CHURCHES OF THAT NATION IN INDIA) TO MAR ATHANASIUS; SENT WITH BISHOP HEBER'S SYRIAC LETTER, BY THE HANDS OF MR. DORAN.

Jan. 6, 1826.

Abraham, a servant of Jesus Christ, from the holy see of Jerusalem (appointed Bishop and Nuncio on a spiritual visitation to the Churches of the Armenian nation in the East Indies,) unto our beloved brother in the Lord, the Right Rev. Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan of the Assyrian nation on the coast of Malabar, and to all the communicators in the true religion of Jesus Christ, and to all the beloved brethren attached to the Church, sendeth greeting;

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, the Most High; and from our blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Inspirer, Holy Ghost!

. I had the gratification to understand, from our most beloved brother in the Lord, the Right Rev. Reginald, the Lord Bishop of the diocese of India (over the Christians of the Established Church of England) the good ministry, and adherence to the charge committed unto you by your superior, in being overseer to the flock of God, for whose redemption's sake Jesus died. This hath afforded me the greatest pleasure, and I always render my thanks to God for His grace, which is given to good Christian ministry by Jesus Christ. Permit me to remind you, ye brethren in the Lord, that according to Scripture the last days I see are come, when many false prophets and false Christs were to have risen, who dissemble in sheep's clothing, but in reality are wolves; such as some of the followers of the Roman Catholic Church are, who try to find access unto the flocks (embodied in the Church of Christ,) by the unity of faith and brotherly love (through the triumph of the Gospel,) and are bent upon scattering and driving them deep into the pit of Satanical transgressions by superstition and idolatry and for the sake of personal ostentation among men, they endeavour to bereave and deprive the true believers from the glory of God; wherefore, be ye upon your guards, and watch, as the skilful shepherd, which thou art represented, according to the beaten track of the heavenly good

Shepherd; feed and watch with vigilance over the flock of Christ, even at the cost of blood. The more especially, I say, for the unity of faith and doctrine handed down from your ancestors, in union with the orthodox Church of Armenia, of which you are members, and the Head of us all is Christ blessed for evermore.

It is rejoicing to observe, that we are in expectation, according to the word of the Lord, to witness the end of the heathens, which seems to be near at hand through the propagation of the Gospel. It is gratifying to me to observe, that the most part of India is blossomed with the light and cultivation of the diffusion of Scripture, through the indefatigable labours of our beloved brother in God, the most pious and true preacher of the word of God, our amiable friend the Lord Bishop of Calcutta. Moreover, his impartial intercourse with our Church, and his friendly reception of us in the English Church has gladdened us beyond the power of the auxiliary, pen and ink, to convey fully my humble sentiments on this subject. It is truly rejoicing to see Christianity thus strengthened, without any distinction to sects and nations; brotherly love working together; one Christian with another; wherefore it behoves me to hail, that the day of salvation and the acceptable time is now visible in our age. I avail myself, in so reasonable a time, to remind you, our beloved brother in the Lord, of the ministry thou hast received from God, through the grace of the precious Cross: minister thou the word of life unto the believers, as well as the unbe