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1 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
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4. The practical difficulty of supporting a Local Order and carrying out its details would, I think, be much enhanced by these circumstances. Between communities conti- guous, although thus essentially distinet, jealousies would be but too apt to arise in respect to the distribution of honours unless vacancies were supplied according to fixed principles of rotation or seniority; while, on the other hand, it may be doubtful whether the observance of regulations of this nature would be compatible with the important object of maintaining the value of the distinction in public estimation.
5. The same objection would not apply in an equal degree, to an Order which should embrace the whole range of Her Majesty's Colonial possessions. The greater extent of the field, while it increased the number of deserving claimants, would tend to beget among the parties interested a more ready acquiescence in the wisdom and propriety of the selec tions recommended by the Government.
6. It may be urged, in opposition to these views, that an Order, embracing the whole Colonies, would exclude many candidates for distinction, who might be admitted into one or other of several local Orders. That this would not necessarily be the case might easily be proved. But assuming the validity of the objection, I am disposed to believe that it would not be difficult to find a remedy for any inconvenience which it might occasion.
7. Situations of honour and trust exist I believe in all the Colonies, which are bestowed upon the inhabitants, in consideration of service or distinguished social position. As examples of what I now refer to, I may cite in Jamaica, seats in the Council, and the custos-ship of parishes. Appointments of this description are objects of ambition within the respective communities. They confer no emolument, and are framed on sound Consti- tutional principles. They involve the discharge of important functions, and are thus secured from sinking in public estimation. They strengthen the local attachments of the colonist, while they increase the influence of Government, and connect the dependencies more closely with the parent State.
8. It is, however, to be observed that the only titular distinctions bestowed upon persons who are thus preferred within the Colonies is that of "Honourable." This style, which was originally English and Monarchical, having been retained by the Colonies which have separated from the mother-country, is now identified with republican institutions, and recalls associations of America rather than Great Britain.
9. I concur with your Lordship in the doubt which you express, as to the applicability, except in rare instances, of hereditary distinctions in the case of the Colonies, continuity of residence and occupation being, it would appear, alien to the spirit of British colonization. But without involving this principle, it might not probably be impracticable by the intro- duction of titles to a limited extent, to give to our Colonial distinctions a more Monarchical character, and to impart a salutary direction to the sympathies which they excite.
10. Your Lordship's experience will point out the mode in which these views, should you admit their justice, may be most effectually carried out. I beg leave, however, to offer one suggestion, in illustration of the principle which I have ventured to recommend.
11. The titular distinction of Knigthood might, I respectfully submit, be conferred in addition to the style of "Honourable," on persons raised to seats in Colonial Legislative Councils, under patents from Her Majesty. The effect would be to give them a position in society cognizable in all parts of Her Majesty's dominions. Their wives would more- over acquire the title of "Lady," which would at once add importance to the office, and substitute associations emphatically British and Monarchical for those derived from the American Senate. It would probably be advisable that this change, if adopted, should be introduced gradually, and extended in the first instance only to the larger Colonies.
12. Were an Order of Knighthood instituted for the whole Colonial Empire, it might also be expedient, at the outset, to restrict it to two classes, under a rigid limitation in respect of numbers. The higher class would comprise a few of the most eminent of Her Majesty's subjects in the Colonies. The second would take a wider range; but I venture to think that it ought to include those only whose claims on the score of distinguished ability or length and fidelity of service were of a high order. I make this suggestion in consideration of the admitted difficulty of distributing rewards of this nature, for Civil services, so as to give general satisfaction, and to maintain their value in public estimation. Claims founded on military or naval exploits are adjudged with comparative facility, but to render the merits of civilians the subject of honourary distinction is a task of much nicety. The risk of its being presumed that such rewards are bestowed without discrimination or on grounds of favour, rather than desert, is unquestionably great. That Her Majesty's Government are not unconscious of this difficulty may, I think, be inferred from the caution which they deem it their duty to observe in recommending any extension of the Order of the Bath as applicable to civilians, although the most eminent servants of the Crown, in every quarter of the Empire, are competitors for this honour.
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13. In connection with the establishment of an Order of Knighthood, as al ove described, I would beg to direct your Lordship's attention to the Constitution of the several Colonies, with a view of inquiring, whether by multiplying situatious of honour and trust within their respective Governments and giving additional importance to those which now exist, means might not be found to assimilate their internal polity to the Monarchical type, and at the same time to enable Her Majesty to bestow on this class of her subjects more frequent and siguificant tokens of her favour.
14. It may be some recommendation of the scheme now submitted that in distinguish- ing the services of Colonists it proceeds upon no arbitrary principle of classification. The British Colonial Empire exhibits a vast system, of which the several Governments, consti- tuting the component parts, are separate and distinct from one another, although alike dependant on one central authority. Services rendered in a Colony may therefore be viewed either in their bearing on the interests of the community immediately affected by them, or on those of the system at large; and it appears by no means unreasonable that the same distintinction should be recognized in the distribution of rewards. According to the proposed plan, local honours would be conferred in acknowledgment of local services, while it would rest with Her Majesty's Advisers to determine under what circumstances the attainment of high consideration or the discharge of important functions in any single Colony should qualify a claimant for admission into an Order of Knighthood, embracing the most distinguished of Her Majesty's subjects and official servants in the Colonial Empire.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
No. 4.
ELGIN AND KINCARDINE.
The Earl of Elgin to Lord Stanley.
(Private.) My Lord,
King's House, Jamaica, July 3, 1844. PURSUANT to instructions conveyed in your Lordship's despatch, " private," of the 15th March, I addressed a letter, of which I herewith inclose a copy to the Governors-in- chief of the Windward and Leeward Islands, British Guiana and Trinidad, and I have now the honour to forward copies of the replies which I have received to that communication.
2. The subject submitted by your Lordship for our consideration is one of great delicacy and importance, and I approach it with much diffidence. The tenor of the letters which I transmit, although generally favourable to the measure proposed, seems to indicate that, in the opinions of the writers, the present circumstances of the West Indian Colonies will offer considerable obstacles to the institution of a Local Order of Knighthood, after the model of that of St. Michael and St. George. Sir Charles Fitzroy contrasts their social condition with that of the Ionian Islands. The observations of Governor Light and Sir H. McLeod may probably not apply with equal force to all the Colonies, but they are unquestionably deserving of much attention.
3. In my circular letter, of the 19th of April, I confined myself to the expression of my belief, that the plan contemplated by Her Majesty's Government would be attended with advantage, if carried out with a due regard to the present state of the West Indian Colonies, and I requested the Governors, to whom it was addressed, to communicate their sentiments on the general question, reserving for future discussion the consideration of details. I now propose to transmit to Sir Charles Grey, Sir Charles Fitzroy, Sir Henry McLeod, and Governor Light, respectively, copies of the whole correspondence which has passed upon the subject, in the hope of receiving a full statement of the views of each on various suggestions which it contains. By this means I trust that the object of your Lordship's reference to the Governors of the West Indian Colonies will be attained.
4. That such an extension of the Order of the Bath, as would admit of its being conferred, in rare instances, on colonists, would be productive of great benefit, and tend to strengthen the connexion between the Colonies and the mother-country I cannot doubt, and I am disposed to believe, that similar advantages might accrue from the establishment of an Order for the West Indian Islands exclusively, but to prevent an institution of this nature from losing its value in public estimation and becoming a source of discontent and jealousy, very great caution would, I apprehend, be necessary in framing its details.
5. It appears to me, after much consideration, that less risk of failure or disappoint- ment would attend the pursuit of the objects which Her Majesty's Government have in view, if it were possible to institute an Order of Knighthood subsidiary to that of the Bath, which should include the whole range of Her Majesty's colonial possessions, and I have
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