CEYLON BRANCH— ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 65 



his fellow clergymen in the first consistorial meeting he attended, 

 when he retracted all his statements confessing his inability to 

 prove them, upon which both parties cordially united. 



It appears from an instance on record in 1751 that when a 

 slave, the property of a Mahomedan, embraced Christianity, he 

 obtained his liberty from Government. In 1748 a famine pre- 

 vailed in the western provinces, after long draught, which caused 

 a failure in the crop, and was immediately followed by a great 

 inundation. In twelve months of 57,585 native Christians in this 

 district 1000 had died, of whom 70 were Church members. 



In 1750 there was an acquisition of four ministers, two of 

 whom had been students of the seminary and had completed 

 their studies in Holland. One of these commenced a stated 

 Tamil Service in Colombo, and the other was engaged chiefly 

 for the Singhalese. The proponent De Melho, of whom men- 

 tion has been made, and who during the scarcity of hands was 

 employed in Colombo as assistant preacher in Tamil and Dutch, 

 went to Batavia to receive ordination. 



During one annual visit in 1751, through the Colombo dis- 

 trict 1,031 children were baptized, 13 adults admitted, and 297 

 couples married. In Jaffna during one visitation 4,069 children 

 baptized and 930 couples married, but the Christians of Jaffna 

 were compared to Laodeceans. As to the character of the Sing- 

 halese it was remarked that those living more inland, though 

 poorer, were more regular at school and in general more hope- 

 ful than the maritime people, while the Malabars, who were 

 most Roman Catholics, were still worse, though with greater 

 advantages both as to intelligence, and to means and facilities 

 afforded by Government. 



Tn 1760 arrangements were made to administer the Lord's 

 Supper quarterly at Pantura, Nagam, and Dandoegam, not onlj 

 because many Church members residing there about found it 

 difficult to resort on such occasions to Caltura, Gotta or Ne« 



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