Postscripts have a very awkward appearance; and they generally indicate thoughtlessness and inattention. To make use of them in order to convey assurances of respect or affection to the person to whom you write, or to those who are intimately connected with him, is particularly improper: it seems to imply that the sentiments which you express are so slightly impressed on your mind, that you had almost forgotten them, or thought them sc. cely worth mentioning.

I WRITE from a small port near the southern extremity of Ceylon, where we are waiting for a fair wind, in order to embark for Calcutta, and where I am happy to steal the first few moments of leisure which have occurred to me for some time, to tell you that we are all three well, that we have received good accounts of our dear little Harriet, and that we are thus far prosperously advanced in our voyage to rejoin her. We left Bombay, where I had been detained much longer than I expected, on the 15th of last month, and had a favourable voyage to this island, of which we have now seen a considerable portion. All which we have seen is extremely beautiful, with great variety of mountain, rock, and valley, covered from the hill-tops down to the sea with unchanging verdure, and, though so much nearer the Line, enjoying a cooler and more agreeable temperature than either Bombay or Calcutta. Here I have been more than ever reminded of the prints and descriptions in Cook's Voyages. The whole coast of the island is marked

by the same features, a high white surf dashing against coral rocks, which, by the way, though they sound very romantically, differ little in appearance from sand-stone; a thick grove of cocoatrees, plantains, and bread-fruit, thrusting their roots into the very shingles of the beach, and hanging their boughs over the spray; low thatched cottages scattered among the trees, and narrow canoes, each cut out of the trunk of a single tree, with an out-rigger to keep it steady, and a sail exactly like that used in Otaheite. The people, too, who differ both in language and appearance from those of Hindostan, are still more like the South Sea islanders, having neither turban nor cap, but their long black hair fastened in a knot behind, with a large tortoise-shell comb, and seldom any clothing but a cotton cloth round their waist, to which the higher ranks add an old-fashioned blue coat, with gold or silver lace, and a belt and hanger to match, a fashion which they apparently received from their Dutch conquerors, and which has a very whimsical appearance. The Candians, who inhabit the interior of the island, and whose country, as you know, was conquered by the English about ten years ago, wear a more showy dress, and one more uniformly Oriental. They are now all tolerably reconciled to our government, as well as the Cingalese, or inhabitants of the sea-coast, and their chiefs are rapidly acquiring a knowledge of our language and imitating our customs. We went up with the governor, Sir Edward Barnes, who, as well as Lady Barnes, have shown us much attention and kindness, to Candy, where I preached, administered the sacrament, and confirmed twenty-six young people in the audience-hall of the late King of Candy which now serves as a church. Here,

twelve years ago, this man, who was a dreadful tyrant, and lost his throne in consequence of a large party of his subjects applying to General Brownrigge for protection, used, as we were told, to sit in state to see those whom he had condemned trodden to death, and tortured by elephants trained for the purpose; and now, in this very place, an English governor and an English congregation, besides many converted natives of the island, were sitting peaceably to hear an English bishop preach! Christianity has made, perhaps, a greater progress in this island than in all India besides. The Dutch, while they governed the country, took great pains to spread it, and the black preachers whom they left behind, and who are still paid by the English government, show a very great reverence for our Common Prayer, which is translated into their language, and a strong desire to be admitted members of the Church of England. One excellent man, named Christian David, I ordained last year in Calcutta, and there are seve ral more in training. There are also some very meritorious missionaries in the island. One of them is the son of our neighbour, Mr. Mayor, of Shawbury, who, together with another Shropshire man, Mr. Ward, has got together a very respectable congregation of natives, as well as a large school, and built a pretty church, which I consecrated last Sunday, in one of the wildest and most beautiful situations I ever saw. The effects of these exer tions have been very happy, both among the Roman Catholic descendants of the Portuguese and the heathen. I have confirmed, since I came into the island, three hundred and sixty persons, of whom only sixty were English; and in the great church at Colombo I pronounced the blessing in four dif.