PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TEC.O. 882
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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Enclosure T. in No. 49.
EXTRACT from "MERCANTILE RECORD" of 16th December 1886.
SIR HERCULES ROBINSON.
Uron the change in the Government of Mauritius that took place yesterday we do not wish to make any comment. That change might have been avoided, perhaps, if the late Governor had been more amenable to reason. But the gods seem to have withdrawn
from certain people, at critical moments, the power of discriminating between right and wrong-between loyalty and an attitude of defiance. And, so in this case, the blow fell. The question at issue was, should a whole community be sacrificed in order to secure the aggrandisement of one man. The reply was, " Certainly not." Sir Hercules Robinson, an old, trusted, and highly valued servant of the Crown, was sent out here to settle our differences if he could do so. He was vested with extraordinary powers, and, against his own will, he has been compelled to use them. Sir John Pope Hennessy was deposed on Tuesday, and Sir Hercules Robinson assumed the reins of government yesterday. The throne room, the balconies, and the approaches to Government House, were crowded. When his Excellency Sir Hercules Robinson appeared he was received -with great cheers. There was not the slightest symptom of a counter demonstration. His Excellency's Commission having been read, he took the oath, and a salute was fired. While the guns were firing Sir Hercules made a short speech, which went straight to the heart of every man who heard him speak. His voice faltered more than once, and it was evident to all present that he was suffering from the emotion that every high-souled man would have felt if he found himself in the delicate position in which Sir Hercules was then placed. His Excellency said :-
"Before leaving the room, I desire to thank all those who have voluntarily attended bere to-day, and whose presence affords evidence, I hope, of their kindly sympathy with me in the delicate and very painful position in which I am placed. There must be many in this room, there are some even immediately around me, to whom the step which I have taken has given pain. To those I wish to say that the course which I have felt impelled by a paramount sense of duty to adopt, cannot possibly have occasioned to any one of them more pain and grief than it has to myself. To those who feel differently, I would venture to express the hope that they will not, through the undue exultation of the moment, say, or do, anything calculated to widen the breach which at present unhappily exists between different races, and classes, and sections in the island. It should, I think, be the desire and aim of every sincere well-wisher of Mauritius that present differences and antagonisms may as soon as possible be obliterated and forgotten; and that Mauritius may again before long present to the world an example of a united and happy community."
No. 50.
SIR J. POPE HENNESSY, K.C.M.G., to the RIGHT HON. EDWARD STANHOPE, M.P. (Received February 9, 1887.)
Mauritius, December 27, 1886.
SIB,
THE Public Notification issued by Sir Hercules Robinson on the 12th of November (two days after the inquiry commenced) and his letters that I transmitted to you in my despatch of the 18th of December show that his proceedings in Mauritius were controlled and cut short by his engagements in South Africa.
2. The notification that be sent to the newspapers on the 12th of November says:-"Sir Hercules Robinson will be obliged to leave for the Cape about the 6th proximo."
3. He begins his letter of the 2nd of December by saying "Captain Wilson is " anxious to know what day I can start." In his letter of the 10th of December he is "much disappointed," as he had hoped he "should have been able to get away before this."
And in his letter of the 18th of December, in which he explains that he suspended me on general grounds which would not be affected by your defence," he adds, “I have told Captain Wilson I mean to leave this on Saturday for the Cape, where
my presence is required."
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in
4. Captain Wilson was the Captain of the flagship on the African station; apart from some troubles in the Transkei provinces, of which he had heard after the inquiry
• No. 44.
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in Mauritius commenced, Sir Hercules Robinson had promised the Admiral that H.M.S."Raleigh" would not be detained at Mauritius beyond a certain date.
5. Hence the overruling necessity for crushing out the defence, of not allowing any re-examination or cross-examination of witnesses, and of precipitating a decision.
6. The most important consequence of this hasty act is described in the Mauritian newspapers I enclose," "Le Cernéen," "The Merchants and Planters Gazette," "Le Journal de Maurice,"
""La Sentinelle de Maurice," "Le Vrai Mauricien,” and “Le Drapeau." These various and independent organs of public opinion concur in stating that Sir Hercules Robinson's proceedings have done more to alienate the Mauritian population from England than anything that has occurred since the conquest of the island. I say nothing now as to how Her Majesty's Government should face that unhappy result and remedy it.
7. Two other consequences followed on Sir Hercules Robinson's proceedings; one, its effect upon me personally, and the other, its effect in preventing an exposé of the real origin of the inquiry. It is only as regards the latter point I venture to address you
now.
8. What caused the inquiry ? That question has been repeatedly asked in Mauritius, and it seems to have been asked also in England. The serious statements made upon oath by Sir Virgile Naz, Mr. Thomy Pitot, and other witnesses show that Mr. Clifford Lloyd's appointment was the proximate cause,
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9. When the news of that appointment first reached Mauritius, Mr. Thomy Pitot wrote to the Secretary of State pointing out that Mr. Lloyd's antecedents indicated that he would be hostile to the Mauritians. Extracts from the "Journal des Débats and other Parisian newspapers were quoted to the same effect in the Mauritian press.
10. The following quotation from a statement made in the House of Commons by the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs was republished as showing the circumstances under which Mr. Lloyd had left his previous appointment:
"Lord Edmond Fitz-Maurice said: Mr. Clifford Lloyd left Egypt owing to certain painful differences of opinion between him and various high officials, both English and Egyptian."
11. From the enclosed evidence of Sir Virgile Naz it will be seen that, in reply to a question from Sir Hercules Robinson as to whether he had a conversation with Mr. Clifford Lloyd that led him to doubt the loyalty of Mr. Lloyd to the Governor, Sir Virgile Naz states that Mr. Lloyd sent for him to try and get me to take leave of absence, threatening complaints and memorials if I did not do so. of the hostile feeling in the Colonial Office in London towards me.
He also spoke time Sir Virgile Naz heard that an adverse memorial was being prepared.
This was the "first 12. Sir Virgile Naz also describes how Mr. Lloyd spoke of his own pecuniary position, and the necessity he was under of getting the half salary of the Governor ; and that he was displeased at finding the Governor here, when he had expected to be Acting Governor.
13. The same witness traced the alliance between Mr. Lloyd and the memorialists; he described their parallel action against me, and swore that Mr. Lloyd acted in unison with them.
14. This was one of the points on which I wished to have Mr. Antelme and another of the memorialists re-examined. The re-examination or cross-examinion of Mr. Antelme would have exposed his political relations with Mr. Lloyd. It would have laid bare the origin of the first memorial, and explained how the second memorial was stimulated. It would also have brought to light certain communications between Mr. Lloyd and officials in London.
15. As regards the latter, Mr. Clifford Lloyd's absence prevented me from having him examined respecting that which well-informed persons regard as the determining cause of the inquiry.
I knew anything
16. Before the Commissioner's arrival Sir Virgile Naz asked me
of a cypher telegram sent to you respecting me by Mr. Clifford Lloyd or Mr. Autelme. I replied in the negative, saying that you would have sent me a copy if such a telegram existed.
17. After the Commissioner's arrival, Mr. Leclézio, the member for Moka, spoke to me on the subject. He said he had reason to believe that a telegram had been sent to you towards the end of August conveying a very serious statement about me; that the statement was absolutely false, but that it was the main cause of the inquiry, and that it had been accordingly sent by you to Sir Hercules Robinson.
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