63
IV.
CEYLON.
10
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE COLONIAL DEPARTMENT
5. Because the sanction of your Lordship to such an arrangement will establish a precedent for the first time under the Episcopate, which may open the door to abuses of a most objectionable character, beyond the reach of episcopal discipline, and subject to no ecclesiastical control.
In proof that such apprehension is not groundless, this very proposal has already been submitted for your Lordship's approval, not only without the sanction of the Bishop, but without mention even of the subject to him, as the responsible head of the Church in this colony.
6. Because it makes the retiring allowance of a Colombo chaplain equal to the entire salary of those in active service, both at Kandy and Trincomalie, at the cost too of one of them, while an increase has been lately refused to the other.
7. Because the duties proposed for the displaced acting chaplain are such that I believe him to be constitutionally incapable of them. They require vigorous health and a robust frame, capable of enduring prolonged exercise, exposure and fatigue of body as well as mind. Estimable and efficient as he is, in a suitable place, such an appointment would be without excuse; I could not consent to it.
8. Because if it be thought desirable to affix a stipend to the archdeaconry, it may be done without injury, by allowing the present incumbent to retain the additional £100 per annum, as Archdeacon, which he at present enjoys as Senior Colonial Chaplain.
There are other reasons, my Lord, which ought practically to have weight in such a decision, but not having been consulted, I forbear to urge them. On one only I would wish to remark, as referred to in the communication of his Excellency, addressed to myself, and probably in that addressed to your Lordship on the subject. I mean the alleged precedent in the case of the late Archdeacon, on the first establishment of the episcopate. Where, however, no analogy exists, no precedent is constituted on one side, or can be fairly claimed on the other.
in name.
The increase of pension to the late Archdeacon (from £600 to £1,000) was simply an agreement of the civil government with an individual and a salaried servant of its own; an ecclesiastic indeed, but without any episcopal control or responsibility, and acting in that matter for his own sole advantage. Her Majesty's Government at home had a specific object in view, which was, to create a controlling authority for the time to come within the colony, by constituting it a Bishop's See. (Despatch No. 220, 26 August 1844.) To effect this without delay they agreed to a compromise of a purely civil nature, and of a financial character, binding only on the contracting parties, requiring no ecclesiastical sanction, or other consent of any kind, beyond their own reciprocal agreement. The office, as a stipendiary office of the Crown, was then surrendered, and from that time ceased to exist.
The archdeaconate was subsequently reinstituted, but by a different authority, and under very different circumstances. It is in no sense now an office of the Crown, but of the Church, and is not therefore to be guided by a seeming precedent, which applies to it only It is of purely episcopal origin for simply diocesan purposes, having no connexion with the Government, nor any claim upon the civil authorities of the colony beyond those of every ecclesiastical functionary, according to his rank, and the usual courtesies of society.
Nor can it be justly held a precedent in a far more important view. The increase of the late Archdeacon's pension was deducted, as long as he lived, from the income of the Bishop, not from the provision made by Government for the Church in one of the provinces of the colony. Such a diversion of funds devoted to spiritual purposes is now proposed at the very time that an increase is much needed within the very district from which it is to be taken.
To this single point I am most anxious that the deliberate consideration of your Lordship should be given before it is sanctioned. Its practical effect would be to alienate, under a specious plea, resources granted to supply the religious wants of the colonists, for the pecuniary advantage of an individual whom, under the 10th clause of the Pension Minute of July 3rd 1845, the Colonial Government are able to reward as they please, without depriving an entire settlement and a large population of that benefit, which (the means being found available) they are justly entitled to claim at the hands of your Lordship and the local Government.
As no objection will be made by me to the appointment of any of the different clergymen proposed by his Excellency, on the ground of their relative merits, (however I might have wished and do wish that more regard had been shown both to constitutional fitness for the work and to past efficient services in this climate), I beg to propose to your Lordship that the £200 per annum saved from the reduced chaplaincy of Trincomalie be applied to the maintenance of an assistant chaplain at Batticaloa, within the same province.
On the manner in which this whole proceeding has been conducted, I forbear all comment. But I must express, my Lord, the deep and unfeigned regret I feel that the very first opportunity afforded me of giving utterance to my opinion in such a matter, should not be in consultation with the head of the Government in this colony, but in a letter of appeal to Her Majesty's Secretary of State against a measure to which on principle I entertain most strong objections, in which, therefore, silence on my part being construed into assent, would argue culpable unfaithfulness in the trust confided to me.
The Right Honourable Earl Grey,
&c. &c. &c.
I have, &c. (signed) J. Colombo.
(No. 509.)
ON COLONIAL CHURCH LEGISLATION, &c.
11
IV. CEYLON.
No. 6.
Copy of a DESPATCH from Earl Grey to Governor the Viscount Torrington.
My Lord.
Downing-street, 28 February 1850.
I HAVE to acknowledge your despatch, No. 16,* of the 12th January last; you will inform the Bishop of Colombo that I have received his letter of the 27th December, but that as I had previously come to a decision adverse to the arrangement to which he objects (communicated to you in my despatch of the 15th February), it is unnecessary for me further to advert to the various reasons which he there urges against it.
I am bound to add, with respect to your explanation of the reasons which induced you not to consult the Bishop on this occasion, that I cannot regard them as sufficient. I consider that when any change is contemplated in the ecclesiastical arrangements of the Church of England, it is due to the Bishop that he should be officially consulted, and his opinion ascertained before any decision is arrived at. And if unfortunately it happens that the Governor and Bishop do not concur in opinion, the Governor, in bringing the subject under the consideration of the Secretary of State, is bound to communicate to him the views of the Bishop.
I have, &c. (signed)
Grey.
No. 6. Earl Grey to Governor Viscount Torrington. 28 February 1850.
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