LESSON XX. The Field of the World.-JAMES MONTGOMERY. "The sower soweth the word."-Mark iv. 14. Sow in the morn thy seed, At eve hold not thine hand; To doubt and fear give thou no heed, Broad-cast it round the land. Beside all waters sow, The highway furrows stock, Drop it where thorns and thistles grow, The good, the fruitful ground, O'er hill and dale, by plots, 'tis found:- Thou know'st not which may thrive, Grace keeps the precious germ alive, And duly shall appear, In verdure, beauty, strength, Thou canst not toil in vain : Cold, heat, and moist, and dry, Thence, when the glorious end, The angel-reapers shall descend, And heaven sing, "Harvest Home!" LESSON XXI. Syrian Christians in Travancore.-MISSIONARY ANNUAL. THE existence of a considerable portion of the native population of Southern India professing Christianity, is a fact that must afford, to, the friends of true religion, peculiar pleasure. These are called Christians of St. Thomas, or Syrian Christians. Between fifty and sixty churches belong to this ancient branch of the Christian church, which has preserved the Syriac Scriptures, in manuscript, from Christ and his apostles; and, unconnected with the rest of the Christian world, has stood for ages amidst the darkest scenes of idolatry and persecution. The tradition among them is, that the gospel was planted in Hindoostan by the apostle Thomas. Landing at Cranganore, from Aden, in Arabia, he was well received by the king of the country, whose son he baptized, and afterwards ordained deacon. Dr. Buchanan entertained a decided opinion, that we have as good authority to believe that the apostle Thomas died in India, as that the apostle Peter died at Rome. That Christians existed in India, in the second century, is a fact fully attested. The bishop of India was present, and signed his name, at the council of Nice, in 325. In the fifth century, a Christian bishop, from Antioch, accompanied by a small body of Syrians, emigrated to India, and settled on the coast of Malabar. The Syrian Christians enjoyed a succession of bishops, appointed by the patriarch of Antioch, from the beginning of the third century, till they were invaded by the Portuguese. They still retain the liturgy anciently used in the churches of Syria, and employ, in their public worship, the language spoken by our Saviour in the streets of Jerusalem. The first notices of this people, in modern times, are found in the Portuguese histories. In 1503, there were upwards of one hundred Christian churches on the coast of Malabar. As soon as the Portuguese were able, they compelled the churches nearest the coast to acknowledge the supremacy of the pope, and, in 1599, they burned all the Syriac and Chaldaic books and records on which they could lay their hands. The churches which were thus subdued are called the Syro-Roman Christians, and, with the converts from other tribes, form a population of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand. Those in the interior would not submit to Rome, but, after a show of union for a time, fled to the mountains in 1653, hid their books, and put themselves under the protection of the native princes, by whom they have been kept in a state of depression. These are called the Syrian Christians. About ten thousand persons, with fifty-three churches, separated from the Catholics; but, in consequence of the corrupt doctrines and licentious manners of their associates, they have fallen from their former state, and very few traces of the high character which they once possessed can now be discovered. In 1806, this people were visited by the late Dr. Buchanan, who presented their case to the public in his Christian Researches; since which much has been done to meliorate their condition. Desirous to render every aid that might, under the divine blessing, promote the revival of piety among the Syrian Christians, the Church Missionary Society, in 1816, sent the Rev. T. Norton to Travancore. The Rev. B. Bailey followed Mr. Norton, and took up his abode at Cotym, where, in 1818, he was joined by the Rev. J. Fenn, and, in the following year, by the Rev. H. Baker. The missionaries have continued their endeavors, with prudence, zeal and fidelity, not only to benefit the Syrian Christians, but to communicate the gospel to the heathen around them, with the most encouraging prospects of success. In reference to the former, the archdeacon of Madras, who visited the several stations in Southern India in 1830, observes, "It was highly gratifying to witness the great progress, both of sound learning and religious feeling, among the Syrian youth who are destined for holy orders, the great desire for education which has spread throughout the country, and the confidence and affection with which the brethren at Cotym are regarded, both by the clergy and laity." "The improvement thus produced," the archdeacon adds, "gives us the best ground of hope for the future reformation of this church; but it is of the utmost consequence to remember that their reformation is still future, and that, probably for many years, it must be the object of hope, rather than exultation. "No one concerned for the spiritual benefit of India, but must earnestly desire that the Syrian church may be restored to the purity and devotedness of the primitive churches of Christ, and may become an active and efficient auxiliary in promoting the extension of the knowledge of the living God around." LESSON XXII. Planting Trees.-NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. WE take the liberty to recommend to every man who has an inch of ground, to fill it up with a tree. There are many who will do nothing of the kind, because their territories are small. We can assure them that they will find the truth of what Hesiod said to agriculturists thousands of years ago, that half an estate is worth more than the whole. Within these limits, however small, they produce effects which will fill even themselves with surprise. If their enclosure be within the city, where the object is to make the most of their possessions, they should remember that, if they cannot have verdure on the soil, they can have it in the air; and if in the country, that nothing gives a more unfavorable, and, at the same time, correct, impression of the character of a landholder, than the aspect of an estate which presents no trees along its borders to shelter the traveller from the sun. Every cottage should have its elm, extending its mighty protecting arms above it. The associations and partialities of children will twine themselves like wild vines around it; and, if any one doubt that he will be better and happier for such, he little knows the feeling with which the wayfarer in life returns from the wilderness of men to the shadow "Where once his careless childhood strayed, We wish it were in our power to do something to call the general attention to the subject of respect to the dead. It gives a painful feeling to pass through a city or village in our country, and to see the shameful desolation and neglect of the burial place, which, if no longer consecrated by religious acts, should certainly be held sacred by the heart. And yet, were it not for the monuments, which here and there appear above the golden-rod and the aster, we should not know these from any other barren fields. A vile enclosure of unpainted wood is all that protects them from violation; and if any tree cast a friendly shadow over it, we may be sure it is one planted by the hand of nature, not of man. We have seen places of this kind in the country, which the fathers of the hamlet seemed to have chosen with a taste seldom found among the early inhabitants of any region, on the banks of rivers, or the borders of deep forests, where every thing around favored the contemplation to which the mind, in such places, is, and ought to be, led, and have found evidence there of the degeneracy, not the improvement, of their children, who had disappointed their designs, and suffered all to run to waste and barrenness, whether from want of refinement, or from avarice, we did not know. It is perfectly surprising that none should be found to take away this reproach. Some of the most uncivilized nations are ages before us in their regard for these delicate and sacred feelings. They would not permit the young and beautiful, the aged and honorable, to be cast into a place so neglected, when even a dog, who had been faithful, would deserve a more honored grave. Our own evergreen cypress is as suitable as the oriental to surround the place of death; and, were it not so, we have many other trees, whose character of form and foliage is well suited to the sad and thoughtful expression which the common feeling requires such places to bear. |