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raeily regal power in Malabar, and when Vasco de Gama arrived 
at Cochin in 1503, he saw the sceptre once swayed by their mo- 
narchs. At Udiamper is the Syrian church, at which Archbishop 
Menezes, from Goa, convened the synod of the Syrian clergy in 
1599, when he burned the Syriac and Chaldaic books. 
This well authenticated account of these churches affords many 
delightful sensations to a reflecting mind, and eminently displays 
the protecting power of the heavenly Shepherd. Numerous as the 
Syrian Christians now are, they were formerly a more extensive 
and flourishing body : and we have every reason to hope there 
will again be a glorious revival among a people so well prepared; 
a people who preserved a pure and spiritual worship when Europe 
was immersed in a gloom, emphatically styled the dark age. The 
uncon trouled power of Papal Rome had not then reached the Syrian 
churches in Travencore: they preserved their independence, and 
remained for ages unmolested, until the maritime discovery of 
India by de Gama: after which, priests and inquisitors from Goa 
disturbed their peace, burnt their unadulterated versions of the 
sacred scriptures, and compelled many of their churches to acknow- 
ledge the pope’s supremacy. 
The extensive tract of country, now denominated the Malabar 
Province, having since the fall of Tippoo Sultan, formed part of 
the British empire in India, and been placed under the manage- 
ment of the Company’s servants, a more accurate and compre- 
hensive detail of the subjects slightly touched upon during my 
voyage on the Malabar coast, and residence in Travencore, will 
most probably be communicated to the public. The pride and 
insolence of the Nambouri brahmins and Nairs will be checked 
