CEYLON BRANCH — ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 63 



, not return peaceably ; as however they made no opposition, the 

 expedition ended in destroying all the Roman Catholic places of 

 worship. The Government school master of Pallanchene was 

 discovered to have been an abetter in the late affray, for in 

 his house were found the very weapons spotted with blood, 

 employed in the attack on the Mohandirams and Lascoreens 

 sent from Negombo. The Ecclesiastical report of the Galle 

 district in 1754 says, that the native christians there were not 

 only destitute and ignorant of all that ornaments the christian 

 character, but that also several Church members of long stand- 

 ing after having seceded to Romanism, had seceded also to hea- 

 thenism. A controversial work against popery by Mr. De Melho 

 one of the native ministers, first written in Dutch, and after 

 being Ecclesiastically approved, translated into Singhalese, was 

 published about this time; as also the Heildelberg catechism 

 in Tamil. 



The same De Melho translated in 1757 the Dutch Liturgy 

 into Tamil, and a catechism of two parts, historical and doc- 

 trinal, into Portuguese. No religious books were published at 

 the Government press in Ceylon until examined and Ecclesias- 

 tically sanctioned, for which purpose the Colombo consistory 

 were a standing commission. Great indignation was excited 

 among the Ceylon clergy by the appearance of a pamphlet pub- 

 lished in Holland by a Theological student at Leyden, SyberV 

 Abraham; he was one of the youths sent thither from the Co- 

 lombo Seminary. The Rev. Mr. Saaken produced the pam- 

 phlet in the consistory, asking his brethren whether any of the 

 charges and statements therein contained respecting the Ceylon 

 clergy were true; for if so he would resign his office. The 

 reason why Christianity did not flourish in the colony the pam- 

 phlateer did not attribute to the natural aversion, apathy and 

 stiffneckedness of the inhabitants, he, the writer, being suffici- 

 ently acquainted with the religious disposition and teachableness 

 of the people of Ceylon and the Coromandel Coast. This as- 



