They occupy posts of honour and profit, they monopolize commerce, and hold the highest rank as artisans and manufacturists. Is not the hand of God in this thing? Are they not designed, at some future period, to work wonders in the moral renovation of mankind? For that purpose, probably, the everlasting arm has been beneath and around them for so many ages, and they have been preserved from the arts and allurements of the tempter. For that purpose, probably, they have been led into the cities and palaces of the Eastern countries.
Where are the seven churches of Asia, to whom was penned the mystic visions of the Apocalypse? Where are the splendid cities in which they rose and flourished? Gone, gone, with the glory of Babylon and the triumphs of Rome. Where is the church of Laodicea, in whose gorgeous cathedral the lordly prelates met to give laws to the Christian world and to anathematize Sabbath-keepers? Echo might answer, "Where?" since it is only remembered because consecrated by the historic muse. But the Sabbath they execrated still exists; is still honoured and hallowed by large and flourishing churches, whose members are scattered over all parts of Asia. Churches, who have never bowed to Baal, who have remained uncorrupted by Rome, uncontaminated by Mohammedism; who amidst the darkness of idolatry kept the lamp of Christianity replenished and burning; and in whose moral firmament the rays of the Star of Bethlehem have never been obscured. That the members of these churches possess natural facilities for the propagation of Christianity throughout the East, that a foreigner could scarcely acquire by long years spent in toil and study, must be evident to every discerning mind. But they are ignorant of the art of printing; and although three editions of their Bible have been issued at Amsterdam, and another at Venice, the supply has by no means equalled the demand among themselves for that holy book. What they require are facilities for printing. A mission, with printers and printing-presses, established in the heart of that country, would prove of incalculable advantage;—not to teach them Christianity: they are acquainted with its doctrines already;—but to print their Bible, and other religious books, for distribution; to enrich their travelling merchants, who are in continual motion from Canton to Constantinople, with the precious wares of truth and wisdom; to inspire their zeal, awaken their energies, and secure their engagement in the glorious enterprise. Would it not be interesting to open a communication with these ancient churches, whose foundation on the Rock cannot be doubted, since they have withstood the wreck and ruin of eighteen centuries, neither extinguished by wars and desolations, nor contaminated by the false prophet or the beast? Would it not be delightful to hold intercourse with that venerable patriarch,—the successor of a line of prelates extending back to the Apostle, that Israelite indeed, in whom was found no guile? Surely that place is hallowed. Within sight of Ekmiasin is Mount Ararat, where the world's gray fathers came forth to witness the bow of the covenant, and whence the Sun of Righteousness shall yet arise to the benighted nations with healing in his wings.
The Armenians, though ignorant of the art of printing, have an abundant store of literature. In the monastery of Ekmiasin, and in some other places, the accumulated lore of ages has been preserved in huge piles of manuscripts, that would abundantly reward the labours of the scholar and the antiquarian. They are not ignorant of the belles-lettres, and they have produced some pleasing poets and rhetoricians.[3]
There are other ancient sects in the East who are represented as being observant of the ancient Sabbath. Of these we might instance several branches of the Nestorian fraternities, the Hemerobaptists, or Christians of St. John, and the Jusidians. How far this may be the case, I have no data for determining. Some authors have also ascribed the observation of the Sabbath to the Greek Church; but this, I believe, can only be understood in a partial and limited sense. Many have been guilty of the incongruity of including in the term "the Greek Church" all the Christians of the East. Strictly speaking, that term was, and is, only applicable to those countries in which the spiritual authority of the Constantinopolitan prelate predominated.
SECTION II.
A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT CHRISTIANS OF INDIA.
The introduction, rise, progress, declension, and extirpation of Christianity in India, is, with some partial exceptions, wrapped in profound obscurity, yet many historians of abundant information and unimpeachable veracity are unanimous in supposing that India received the gospel probably before Great Britain.
Rev. C. Buchanan says, "There have lately been discovered Sanscrit writings containing testimony of Christ. They relate to a prince who reigned about the period of the Christian era, and whose history, though mixed with fable, contains particulars which correspond, in a surprising degree, with the advent, birth, miracles, death, and resurrection of our Saviour." The same testimony is given by Sir William Jones, whose acquaintance with Oriental literature has never been surpassed. Another learned historian declares, "That it may be proved by the Syriac records, that in the fourth century Christianity was flourishing in the provinces of Chorasin and Mavaralhara; and from a variety of learned testimony, that the gospel was introduced by the Apostle Thomas himself into India and China, within thirty years subsequent to the ascension of our Saviour." La Croze in the clearest manner proves the antiquity of Christianity in those countries. In the epitome of the Syrian canons, St. Thomas is styled the Apostle of the Hindoos. He is uniformly styled, in the Syrian Chronicles, the first bishop of the East. Ebed Jesus says, "India and all the regions around received the priesthood from him." Amru, the Syriac historian, traces both Thomas and Bartholomew through Arabia and Persia into India and China. Many of the Syrian writers quoted by Asseman agree in stating that a few of the twelve, and many of the seventy disciples went far and wide preaching the gospel through Northern Asia.
The Bishop of Calcutta, Dr. Wilson, says, "That the Christians of the Malabar Coast are the remnants of the ancient church of India, preserved in the midst of idolatry from the days of the Apostles."
These Christian settlements are located on the Malabar coast, in the south of India, and contain a population of probably 200,000. They are agricultural in their mode of life, and occupy a fertile and healthy territory. They are spread along the Cunara. In Mangalore, Onore, Barcelore, and Carwar, they have flourishing churches. A large settlement of these people were discovered by Dr. Buchanan in the interior of Travancore. Their intelligence, the virtuous liberty of the female sex, and the whole aspect of society, seemed to indicate a Protestant country.
For the compilation of a history of this people we have scant materials. Unknown to the world they seem to have been most happily preserved from its troubles and dissensions. Their obscurity was the preservative of their peace and the badge of their purity. Yet we are informed by William of Malmsbury, that these Christians were visited, towards the conclusion of the ninth century, by ambassadors from Alfred of England, who paid their homage at the shrine of St. Thomas, in the vicinity of Madras, and whose return, loaded with a cargo of pearls and the richest gums and spices, amply rewarded the enterprising sovereign, who entertained the noblest projects of discovery and commerce.[4] They asserted that the pepper coast of Malabar, and even the islands of Ceylon and Socotara, were peopled with Christians, who were in happy ignorance of the quarrels of princes and ecclesiastics. And that the bishops who presided over this multitude of churches were unambitious of worldly honours, and received ordination from the patriarch of the East. This account, however, was received as an imposition upon the credulity of mankind, and was treated as such until the progress of modern discovery established the fact. The Portuguese, who circumnavigated Africa, and dared the dangers of unknown seas, in order to gather the Indian spoils of gold and gems, found, not indeed the boundless wealth they sought, but these companies of Christians who still preserved their faith in its pristine purity. Superior in arts, and arms, and virtues, to the idolaters of Hindostan, they appeared to the astonished adventurers like another race. They occupied extremely neat and convenient dwellings, shaded by the palm-tree, and contiguous to fields of tropical productions. The husbandman lived in peace and plenty, the merchant grew rich by the pepper trade, the young men were admitted to the service and society of the nobility of Malabar; and their simple virtues demanded and insured the respect of the king of Cochin, and the Zamorin himself. They were in allegiance to a Gentoo sovereign, but the real administration of their laws, even in temporal concerns, was lodged in the hands of the bishop of Angumala, who could trace an uninterrupted succession of prelates to the apostle himself. He still asserted his ancient dignity as metropolitan of India, and his jurisdiction extended over fourteen hundred churches, and embraced the spiritual care of 250,000 souls. He was assisted by a sufficient number of priests and spiritual teachers, who administered consolation to the dying, and reproof or correction to the living. Their meeting-houses were not different from ordinary dwellings. They had neither pictures nor images. The doctrine of purgatory, the invocation of saints, the merit of relics, and the observation of the first day, was unknown among them. On the contrary, they rested and attended to divine worship upon the seventh day of the week, administered baptism to adults, and by immersion, were not ignorant of the great doctrines of regeneration and justification, and possessed authentic manuscript copies of the Holy Scriptures, which were publicly read in the churches every ensuing Sabbath. They were not degenerated into that softness, effeminacy, and licentiousness of manners, which generally distinguish the natives of Southern India. They were chaste, and observant of their conjugal relations; adultery was a crime unknown. Their priests were permitted to enter into wedlock once, with a pure virgin; they were scandalized and disgraced by a second marriage, and a third could only be consummated at the expense of excommunication.