349 Account of the Christians on (he Mahihar Const. [Oct. 



fisco Ro/, who oxeruted the barbarous sentence w;tli unsparin;^ 

 fidelity. Preafhei-s were retjuirod to bo licensed by the bishop 

 of the diocese, or in the vacancy of the si(\ by the rector of 

 the Jesuit's College at VaipicottA and a portion of a catcciiism in 

 the language of the country, lobe pK^parcd by the archbishop, 

 -was ordered to be read to tlie people every Lord's day. The 

 general councils, and especitdly the council of K[)hesus in which 

 Nestorius was coiuleinned, were solemnly recognized by the Synod^ 

 and the council of Trent received as the rule of their discij)line and 

 do -trine; and the last decrees of the session expressed the sub- 

 mission of the Synod to the Inquisition established at (ioa, as 

 supreme in all points of dochine or manners, requesting* the in- 

 quisitors to delegate their powurs to some learned men in the 

 diocese or to the Fatluis in the College of Vaipicotta — thu* 

 rivetting the chains imposed on thcni, by the iron rule of that 

 fearful and monstrous tribunal. 



The four next sessions of the Synod were occupied in defining 

 the doctrine of the seven sacraments according to the Church 

 of Rome, and ni giving special directions for their due administra - 

 on. To detail the several decrees on these points would be at 

 once tedious and useless to the general reader. They are chiefly 

 valuable as they prove how little of the corrupt additions of later 

 times was found in the primitive and secluded communion of the 

 christians of St. Thomas. 



The eighth session relates entirely to the regulation of Church 

 affairs, in which are many useful and excellent directions mixed 

 with much more of a corrupt and evil tendency; and the last 

 is occupied in the reformation of manners, especially forbidding 

 the adoption of superstitious observances from the heathen around 

 them; and many immoralities which had sprung up as the natural 

 fruit of poverty and ignorance. 



The Decrees having been publicly read, the diocese was divided 

 into seventy five parishes, of convenient size according to the 

 circumstances of the case, and a vicar nominated to each. The 

 archbishop, before whom they knelt one by one to kiss his hand, con- 

 ferred Institution upon the incumbents, and gave them a solemn 

 charge, explanatoryof the nature and importance of the duties entrust- 

 ed to them. The decrees were then signed by the archbishop and 

 by ad the clergy and the deputies of the laity who were present. 

 T-.f; e were one hundred and thirty three priests, besides other 

 cieigy, and six hundred and sixty representatives of the people. 



