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have given rise to no complant in the Colony on the part of the members of the Churches of England and Scotland, and that they impose no obligations on the Roman Catholic clergy to which they are not subjected in common with the clergy of all religious denominations, not only in other British Colonies and in England, but in the most important Roman Catholic States of Europe.
8. The Ceylon Ordinance of No. 13 of 1863 was amended at the instance of the Roman Catholic clergy in 1865 to relieve them under certain conditions of the necessity of observing the formalities preliminary to marriage in the case of persons inarticulo mortis."
9. If the Ordinance should be susceptible of further improvement in other matters not affecting its general principles, I should have no objection to sanction For instance, in the any legislation which may be necessary to effect this purpose. memorial to which I have above referred, Bishops Sillani and Bonjean lay great stress on the evils which arise in their opinion from the length of the twenty-one days' notice required to be given to the Registrar previously to the solemnization of marriage. They assert that this provision results in multiplied cases of concu- binage, as missionaries can seldom or never remain twenty-one days in Christian villages.
to
10. This is a point which, no doubt, deserves great attention, and I would invite you to consider whether some amendment might not be advantageously intro- duced in the law whereby power should be given every District Judge, Registrar, or other proper authority to dispense in proper cases with the ordinary length of notice, a power which is now vested in the Governor, but of which the native Christians cannot avail themselves without considerable delay, formality, and expense.
11. In my despatch No. 202 of the 27th of August last, I expressed my approval of a general reduction of fees for registering places of worship of all denominations, and I would gladly concur in any other suggestion which might be made with the object of giving every reasonable facility for the celebration of marriage among the poorer classes.
12. I request that you will convey to Bishops Sillani and Bonjean the sub- stance of this despatch in reply to their communication.
I have, &c.
No. 18.
(Signed)
CARNARVON.
45
instructions; and that I do not think it advisable on the present occasion to open a discussion in the Legislative Council on the subject of a concession which they do not value, and which might interfere with their chance of getting better terms here- after, when the incongruities of the Marriage laws throughout Her Majesty's Dominions will be dealt with on some general principle, in the framing of which the Catholics will have a voice.
I have, &c. (Signed)
Inclosure 1 in No. 18.
W. H. GREGORY.
My Lords,
WITH reference to my letter of the 17th November last, I have the honour to
Colombo, April 26, 1876. forward, for your information, the annexed extracts from a despatch received by me from the Secretary of State.
I have received authority, as you have been already informed, to reduce the fees for the registration of places of worship of all denominations; and I have also received authority to submit, if I think fit to do so, to the Legislative Council an amendment of clause 10 of the Ordinance No. 13 of 1863, whereby may be conferred on a district judge the same powers as are now possessed by the Governor, to authorise a Registrar to issue certificates before the expiration of the twenty-one days' notice. I must, however, remark that the complaints of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, in 1863 were directed, as regards the first point, not so much to the amount of the registration fee as to the fact that the civil authorities should have any power of limiting or interfering with places appointed by the bishop for the administration of a sacrament.
The objection to clause 9 and 10 of the Ordinance No. 13 of 1863 was not merely or so much to the length of the notice as to the general principle of it, that a sacrament should not be administered without the intervention and sanction of lay authority.
As the utmost concession which I am empowered to grant is to introduce a measure in Council to grant to a district judge the same powers as are conferred on me, in respect to the reduction of the notice, and as the main point for which your Lordships contend, namely, that the religious marriage should precede registration, remains untouched, I am strongly of opinion that it is not advisable to interfere with the Ordinance as it stands at present.
1 have, &c.
Governor the Right Hon. Sir W. H. Gregory, K.C.M.G., to the Earl of Carnarvon.—
(No. 129.) My Lord,
(Received July 11.)
The Pavilion, Kandy, Ceylon, June 5, 1876.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's despatch No. 61 of the 13th March.*
advice.
2. I immediately communicated to the Roman Catholic Bishops the first eight paragraphs of it, and in my letter to them, a copy of which I herewith inclose, I dissuaded them from urging me to make any change in the present Marriage Ordi- nance. I send their reply, in which they state they are prepared to take my
It is a matter of very little 3. The question at issue is not one of detail. moment to the Roman Catholic authorities whether the fee for registering their churches be 31. or 3 rupees, or whether the length of notice previous to the solem- nization of marriage be curtailed. The one, main, vital principle for which they contend, and which they show to have been conceded to their co-religionists in Ireland and elsewhere, is the abstention of the Secular authority from all interference as to the administration of a Sacrament with which the Ecclesiastical authority claims to be alone capable to deal.
4. I have very frankly told the Bishops, in private communications, that though I should be very glad if their wishes could be granted, as I do not see that any incon- venience would thereby arise, yet that without positive instructions from the Secre- tary of State, it would be impossible to induce the Legislative Council to make the changes in the Marriage Law which they require; that, knowing the difficulties which would have arisen in the Government itself when I communicated their views to your Lordship in June 1875, I did not recommend your Lordship to issue these
• No. 17.
(Signed)
The Right Rev. Bishop Sillani, and The Right Rev. Bishop Bonjean.
Right Honourable Sir,
Inclosure 2 in No. 18.
W. H. GREGORY.
Colombo, May 17, 1876. Jaffna,
WE have the honour to acknowledge your Excellency's letter to us of the 26th April, inclosing extracts from the answer of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to our letter to him of 23rd October last.
I
We have seen, with regret, that his Lordship is not prepared to admit that Catholics can entertain conscientious objections to a Legislative enactment which, he says, has given rise to no complaints on the part of the members of the Churches of England and Scotland here. But your Excellency, who is well con- versant with the doctrine of our Church, knows that we have, and that they are of a most serious nature. It can be no relief to us that the same grievances press like- wise on other British Colonies, or that the laws of England have not yet granted to our English co-religionists there the freedom we claim for ourselves here, and which we enjoyed until 1863, or that despotic or revolutionary Governments have invaded the rights of the Church in Roman Catholic countries. Everywhere those unjust encroachments of the State upon matters of the spiritual order, have given rise to protests; nowhere have they been acquiesced in by the Catholic Church, they are, at most, tolerated as unavoidable evils.
N
(131)
46
We are indebted to his Lordship, the Secretary of State, for the "great attention he has accorded to our statement, and for his "desire to give effect to our wishes:" but the concessions allowed are unimportant; they leave our objections in their full force; and it can interest us but slightly whether they are passed into law or not.
We have therefore come to the conclusion to wait for more propitious times, reserving meanwhile all our rights, and maintaing all our objections.
It cannot but form a strong presumption in favour of our claims that their justice has been recognized by a Statesman of your standing, and one whose acquaintance with Catholic views is only equalled by the accuracy of his knowledge of all matters connected with Ceylon.
We regret having been the occasion of so much trouble and anxiety to your Excellency; but we shall never forget your Excellency's ready sympathy with us in this grave question, and your generous efforts to help us.
With every expression of our regards for your Excellency, we have, &c.
(Signed)
+CHS. BONJEAN, O.M.I., Bishop of Medea,
Vicar Apostolic of Jaffna.
+HILARION SILLAÑI, 0.8.B., Bishop of
Callinico, Vicar Apostolic of Colombo.
His Excellency the Right. Hon. Sir W. H. Gregory, K.C.M.G.,
Governor of Ceylon.
No. 19.
The Earl of Carnarvon to Governor the Right Hon. Sir W. H. Gregory, K.C.M.G.
(No. 160.) Šir,
Downing Street, July 20, 1876.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 129 of the 5th of June, inclosing a copy of a correspondence which passed between you and the Roman Catholic Bishops on the marriage laws of Ceylon, after you had received my despatch No. 61 of the 13th of March last.+
I have, &c.
(Signed)
CARNARVON.
* No. 18.
+ No. 17.