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the same month, I have the honour to transmit the enclosed Petition addressed to Her Majesty the Queen by a number of the residents in this Colony, praying for a re-consideration of the decision arrived at by Her Majesty's Government to abolish the office of Colonial Chaplain upon the retirement of the present incumbent, thus depriving the Church of England in this Colony of the endowment previously provided by the State.
Enclosure 13 May, 1891.
Your Lordship will observe that the Petition is signed by the Roman Catholic Bishop and a large number of Catholics, and also by several of the leading Chinese.
I strongly commend the prayer of the Petitioners to Your Lordship's favourable consideration, and as the Time