TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE C. WATKIN WILLIAMS WYNN, M.P., PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. MY DEAR SIR, In dedicating this Journal to you, I have the melancholy satisfaction of fulfilling the intention of its Author. Had he lived to revise and complete the work himself, he would more ably have expressed to you his sense of the obligations which he felt for his nomination to the Bishopric of Calcutta, for the invariable kindness he received at your hands during his residence in India, and for the zeal with which you met and forwarded his views for the welfare of its inhabitants. The friendship that you have ever entertained for my husband was met on his part by feelings of no common nature; and the affection which you bear his memory makes me sensible that you will highly appreciate this testimony of his gratitude and regard. I have the honour to be, My dear Sir, Your much obliged and obedient, AMELIA HEBER. December 31, 1827. PREFACE. THE painful task of editing the works of the late Bishop of Calcutta having devolved upon his widow, she is anxious to state that her principal object in publishing the following Journal is, that its readers may be made acquainted with the nature and extent of the duties performed by the Bishop during the short time he presided over the Indian Church, as well as with the difficulties he encountered in the visitation of his extensive diocese. Although written in the shape of a diary, the greater part of the work formed his correspondence with the Editor-a fact which she hopes will be borne in mind, should some consider that he has dwelt less upon the professional objects of his journey than might have been anticipated. The Letters to his friends in England, from which extracts are given, together with the sacrifice of his dearest affections which he was so frequently called upon to make, sufficiently prove that he never lost sight of his high calling, nor suffered any circumstances to interfere with the object for which he left his native land. In the unreserved confidence of such communications, it will be supposed that there was much of a nature uninteresting to the public eye, and that omissions were consequently necessary. Had it pleased God to spare the Bishop's life, it was his intention, after revisiting the same countries, to publish, corrected by further experience, an account of his travels from the notes, in which light only he considered the work now offered to the world. If the Editor has retained too many proofs of her husband's attachment to her, and love for his children, or too many traits of that kindness of heart for which he was so eminent, some allowance should be made for the feelings of one whose pride it now is, as it was her happiness, to have possessed the undivided affections of that heart whose qualities she so well knew and so fondly valued. During a residence of five weeks in Ceylon, the Bishop had not leisure to continue the account of his first Visitation, which concluded in that beautiful country; but as it was a part of his diocese which, in many points of view, particularly interested him, he intended writing at some future period his recollections of the island, aided by the Editor's journal, which for that purpose was written more in detail. She has endeavoured to supply, in some degree, the deficiency, by inserting a few pages in the second volume. Having thus explained the circumstances under which the work was written, and her motives for its publication, the Editor begs to be allowed to express her gratitude for the great and invariable kindness received by her husband and herself during their residence in India. For the active furtherance of his views in the promotion of Christianity, |