As respected himself, it is scarcely necessary to state that the scene of labour at the Presidency was, in most respects, widely different from that to which Mr. Corrie had been accustomed in the provinces. In a letter to his brother, dated early in 1819, Mr. C. relates, as a specimen of his engagements,-- “Mr. Parson and myself go on happily in our joint Chaplaincy. The Bishop is absent at Madras, where, we hear, he is confirming, in his sermons, all Mr. Thompson’s labours. He is in many respects a valuable man. “I have lately been appointed Honorary Chaplain to the [Military] Orphan Institution,[109] where I officiate every Sunday Morning soon after six o’clock. At the Cathedral I read prayers or preach at nine; and the same at eight in the evening. I take the weekly occasional duties in turn. I am, also, _ex officio_, a Governor of the Free School, and a member of the Select Vestry; who are Trustees of charities distributed to the monthly amount of 3,411 rupees, among 568 Pensioners.” The connexion with the “Select Vestry” here mentioned, did not however prove without its difficulties; for it happened that Mr. Corrie commenced his duties at the Presidency before a dispute had subsided, respecting the mode in which that Vestry was constituted, and the authority which they claimed to exercise. It seems to have been the custom for the members of the Vestry to re-elect themselves annually, so as to admit new members into their body only as vacancies occurred by deaths, resignations, or departures for England. They had customarily, also, appointed the officers connected with the Church, now called the Cathedral. But it appears that at the Easter preceding Mr. Corrie’s connection with the Cathedral, a certain number of persons opposed the re-election of the Select Vestry, as being contrary to the practice usual in England; and the senior Chaplain, at the same time, claimed the right to nominate the churchwardens. The Select Vestry, on the other hand, regarded themselves (and had long been so recognized by government) as special Trustees for a Church which had been originally built by private individuals; and for the due distribution of certain funds, arising mainly from legacies left for charitable purposes, and under the administration of the Vestry. However much, therefore, to be deplored, might be the animosity and indecorous language, into which some of the parties concerned in the dispute, seem to have been betrayed, it cannot be a matter of surprise that the Vestry, as a body, should hesitate to abandon long-acknowledged claims, and to hand over to other persons, the distribution of certain charities which they conceived to be legally entrusted to the Vestry. To such a length, however, had the dispute respecting this matter been carried, that both parties complained to the Governor General in Council; and the Government had given it as an opinion, rather