IV. CEYLON.
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE COLONIAL DEPARTMENT
In order to carry these arrangements into effect, your Lordship proposes that Dr. Bailey should be allowed to retire on a higher rate of pension than he is entitled to, and that to accomplish this, a reduction should be made in the stipend of one of the colonial chaplains.
I regret that I cannot sanction your Lordship's proposals, for the following reasons ---
1st. It is necessary to adhere strictly to the regulations laid down for the granting of pensions for service; and to vary the amount of pension beyond what the regulations sanction, would lead to irregularity, and perhaps to injustice.
2d. To augment the regulated pension, by a deduction from the salaries of other public servants, is open to great objection, for if the salaries are not excessive, they ought not to be reduced for such a purpose; if, on the other hand they are excessive, they ought to be reduced on general grounds, and the saving carried to the account of the colony.
Your Lordship will therefore perceive, that my objections are confined to the principle involved in the grant of a pension by no settled rule, and consequently subject to variation in every case of a similar nature which may occur, and probably, therefore, the cause of much just discontent on future occasions.
I should not in any other point of view have deemed it necessary to depart from the arrangements, assuming that they met with the concurrence of the Bishop of Colombo, although you have omitted to state that you have consulted his Lordship on the subject.
I have, &c. (signed) Grey.
(No. 26.)
- No. 3.
ON COLONIAL CHURCH LEGISLATION, &c.
the proposed absence of the Bishop in the present instance should form an exception to the general rule (for I can hardly deem it possible that he can return within the space of six weeks), I should wish to be guided by your Lordship's instructions respecting the payment of his salary.
6. If the proposed visit to the Mauritius should be attended with the valuable results to the inhabitants which are anticipated, I would submit to your Lordship whether it would not be advisable hereafter, that the diocese of Colombo, should be extended so as to include that colony; in which case I would suggest, either that the Government of Mauritius should be chargeable with the payment of one-third of the annual amount of the Bishop's salary, or else, that a sufficient sum should be allowed by that colony for each biennial or triennial visitation, according to the precedent of Ceylon when it was under the bishopric of Madras, in which case it might not be deemed unjust, in the present state of the public finances, that a portion of the ample salary of the Lord Bishop (£2,500) payable by this colony, should be reduced.
I have, &c. (signed)
My Lord,
Enclosure 1, in No. 3.
Nuwera Ellia, Ceylon, 29 January 1849.
At the request of the Bishop of London, and of Sir Wm. Gomm, Governor of the Mauritius, I purpose, with your Lordship's permission, visiting that colony for the consecration of their churches, the confirmation of the young, and the discharge of any other episcopal functions that may be required. The regular communication between the colonies renders it now of easy arrangement, without a longer absence from my own diocese than the time consumed in the passage, and the interval between two monthly mails may require.
Your Lordship will, I am sure, at once consent to so easy an arrangement for the benefit of a colony which has never yet been visited by a Bishop of the Church of England since it became a dependency of the British Crown.
I have, &c. (signed)
The Right Honourable Earl Grey, &c. &c. &c.
J. Colombo.
Torrington.
T
Encl. 1, in No. 3.
No. 3- Governor Viscount Torrington to Earl Grey.
13 February 1849,
Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor the Viscount Torrington to Earl Grey,
Queen's House, Colombo, 13 February 1849. (Received, 28 March 1849.)
My Lord,
(Answered, 9 April 1849, No. 378, page 8.)
At the request of the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Colombo, I have the honour to forward to your Lordship the enclosed application for permission to be absent from the diocese, for a sufficient period to enable him to visit the Mauritius, for the purpose of performing certain episcopal functions, which have never yet been discharged in that colony since it has been a dependency of the British Crown.
2. I cannot doubt that it would be very advantageous both to the clergy and the English inhabitants of that colony professing the Protestant faith, to be able to profit by an opportunity of having their churches consecrated, and the right of confirmation extended to their children. In many respects it must be evident, that the personal influence of a Bishop, even though not privileged to exercise episcopal rights (such as would be the case within his own diocese), must be brought to bear with advantage, even during a temporary visit, in upholding the authority, and maintaining the public respect for the church to which he belongs.
3. In making this application, his Lordship has distinctly intimated to me, that he does not desire to impose any additional burden whatever upon this colony for the charges of his journey, neither does he wish that the expense should be borne by the Mauritius. I forward to your Lordship a second letter from the Bishop, fully explanatory of all the circumstances of the case.
4. I should be unwilling to interpose any obstacle in the way of his Lordship's proposal; and I would suggest that leave of absence should be granted to him for the purpose stated, not exceeding three months; but at the same time, it becomes my duty to submit the following points for your Lordship's consideration.
5. Under recent regulations, a public officer may be absent from the colony with the sanction of the Governor, for the space of six weeks, without forfeiting any portion of his salary. If his leave of absence extend beyond that period, he ceases to be entitled to draw more than half his salary. If it be intended that
Enclosure 2, in No. 3.
My Lord,
Nuwera Ellia, Ceylon, 8 February 1849.
OPINIONS have been expressed in this colony in reference to my application to your Lordship for permission to visit episcopally the Mauritius, which render an explanation, I regret to find, necessary from myself.
1. A question has been raised as to my authority to exercise episcopal rights out of my own diocese. I have, my Lord, no rights, and therefore can exercise none.
Her Majesty alone can impart such rights by Letters Patent, and your Lordship will, I trust, acquit me any wish to arrogate or assume them where they do not exist. But to discharge episcopal functions, and do episcopal acts, is assuredly a very different thing. This I submit, with deference to your Lordship, it is competent to any Bishop to do wherever he may be, if invited, and duly empowered by the authorities, ecclesiastical or civil, there resident. It has been done by the Bishops of Calcutta and Madras, of Sydney and Tasmania, on the voyage to their respective dioceses; repeatedly, I believe, at the Cape, before its erection into an independent episcopate. It has been done lately towards those of our own Church, even by an American Bishop, in China, and such ministrations are surely a benefit to a colony where they cannot otherwise be obtained, and are felt to be so, my Lord, by those who welcome and appreciate them.
On the request, therefore, of the Bishop of London, of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and of his Excellency Sir William Gomm, that I would visit the Mauritius for the consecration both of the churches and places of sepulture in that colony, and for the confirmation of the members of our communion under his paternal government, I did not hesitate to express my willingness, I should have felt ashamed to do so, facilities having been lately, for the first time afforded, by the opportunity of a regular monthly communication between the two colonies. I did not think, nor do I, that the brief absence of two months would, for once, be any very great inconvenience to my own diocese.
2. It has been assumed that this is to become an annual visit, such a thought, my Lord, was never in my mind. The principal acts enumerated above, for which I am requested to repair thither, once done are done for ever. All other points have reference rather to church government, and require a resident Bishop invested with the necessary authority, the rite of confirmation alone excepted, which in so small a colony would not be more frequently required