The Church mission station at Baddagame, in the low country, ten mUes north of Point de Galle, com- menced at the same time as that at Kandy, has been even less successful. Schools have been established, printed books have been circulated and read, and many have been made acquainted with the principles of Christianity. Still there have been but few conver- sions. In the annual report for 1852, the Rev. Mr. Parsons, one of the missionaries, says : *^At this place the church is built (it was dedicated by bishop Heber), and here are the mission residences, seminary, and girk' school ; but here, alas ! is the greatest indiffer- ence to the good news of salvation."
By far the most important of the stations of the Church of England mission in Ceylon is that at Cotta, a populous d'lstrict within a few miles of Colombo. Here the mission commenced its labors in 1828, and a collegiate institute was founded in 1827 for the train- hig of native teachers and assistants. It commenced with ten pupils, and has continued to the present time with success, being resorted to by the Tamils of Jaffna, the Kandians from the hills, and the Singhalese from the low country. In this " Oriental college" there were m 1852 22 students in Greek and Latin, Euclid, Scripture History, etc. A printing-press has been for some years in operation, which has issued a translation of the Scriptures known as the "Cotta version."
7. WesUyan Methoditt Missions.— The British Con- ference, stunulated by the earnest appeals of Dr. Coke (q. v.), and by the wishes of Sir A. Johnstone, chief JMtice of Ceylon, determined in 1813 to organize a mission in Ceylon. Dr. Coke, accompanied by six missbnaries, Messrs. William Ault, James Lynch, G«orge Erskine, William Martin Harvard, Thomas Hall. Sqoanc^, and Benjamin Clough, set sail from Portsmouth on the 80th of December, 1818. Two of the party. Harvard and Squance, were acquainted ^^ the management of the printing-press, which robeequcnfly became the chief instmment in the mis-
II.-N
sion. On the 8d of May Dr. Coke died on the passage. The missionaries landed in June, and were most cor- diaUy received by the British Ainctionaries on the isl- and. It was decided to occupy at first only four sta- tions, viz., Jaffha and Batticaloa, for the Tamil divi- sion of the island ; Galle and Matura for the Singkakse ; Messrs. Lynch and S<^uance to be stationed at Jafiliia, Mr. Ault at Batticaloa, Mr. Erskine at Matura, and Mr. Clough at Galle.
It is impossible for us to enter into details concern- ing this most interesting and successful mission. By 1818 there were 70 members of the Wesleyan Church ; in 1868 there were over 50 churches and about 2200 members. The Uterary labors of the Wesleyan mis- sionaries have been more extended than those of any others, and their contributions to our lAiowledge of Buddhism are of priceless value. " The Methodists, " says Sir E. Tennent, *'have been the closest investi- gators of Buddhism, the most profound students of its sacred books in the original, and the most accomplish- ed scholars both in the classical and vernacular lan- guages of Ceylon." Their publications in Singhalese, against Buddhism and in favor of the evidences of Christianity, have been of great service. One of the missionaries, John CaUo^ay, published a Dictionary of Singhalese, with several sermons and tracts ; W. B. Fox, a Singhalese and Portuguese Vocabulary ; Robert Newstead translated the N. T. and the Hymn- book into Portuguese; Alexander Hume translated the first part of Pilgrim's Progress into Singhalese. The most eminent names in literature among the Cey- lon missionaries, however, are those of R. Spence Hardy (author of Eastern Monachtsm; Manual of Buddhism; and other works), and of the Rev. D. J. Gogerly (f 1862), late general superintendent of the Wesleyan Missions in South Ceylon, who stood at the head of Pali schol- arship at the time of his death (see Gooebly). So great has been the effect of the preaching and of the literary labors of the Wesleyan missionaries, that the Buddhists have formed a society (since I860) to prop- agate the doctrines of Gautama by itinerant preaching, the press, and colportage.
In 1866, the statistics of Wesleyan Missions were as follows :
Sonthem Ceylon 1 (Singhalese). I
Northern Ceylon 1 (Tamil). j
15 46
5 6
11T8 406
2600 3380 1194 1940
Newcomb gave the following statistics of all the missions in Ceylon in 1853 :
Missioifs.
English Uaptiet
Weeleyan Methodist .
American Board
Church Mia. Sodety. .
Gospel Prop Soc. . . . .
Totals
Si
1S12 1814 181C 1818 1838
341 4^ " 1749
1,003 3,T58 4,242 3,5!)9 381
12,978,38
Boyce (StoHstics of Missions, London, 1863) gives the following statistics for 1861 :
MioiAten.
i
e 1
BQ
1
I)Ry School*. 1
d
1
1
■
1
j
1
Cbtlon. Am. B. of For. M. Church M!m. Soc Wcaleyan Mis. . . Soc. Pra Gospel . Baptist Miss. Soc
8
8
22
19
2
9 12 10 6 2
4
2 25 13
8
22
35
1
17
11
32
921 4753 6900 3303 1920
458
2188 269 437
37 120 100 64 22
60 146 20
1498 4460 4S84 2802
no
CHABARE
194
CHAIN
LUerature, — ^Besides the works already cited, see Tnrnour, Epitome of the History of Ceylon (Colombo, 1886) ; Knighton, History of Ceylon (London, 1846) ; Tennent, Christtanity mi Ceylon (1850, 8vo) ; Tennent, Ceylon: Physical^ Historicaiy etc. (London, 1859, 8vo); Heber, Journey in IndiOj with Notes in Ceylon (Phila. 1829, 8vo) ; London Quarterly Beview, April, 1863, art. V (The Ceylon Wesleyan Mission) ; Annual Reports^ A, B.C. F. M. and of WeMleyan Missionary Society; Marshall (Roman Catholic), CArM^um Missions (Lond. and New York, 1864, 2 vols.), vol. i, p. 857-409; Ste- vens, History of Methodism^ voL iii, ch. ziL