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Bill, would b one of its strongest opponents. I should dread and deprecate the religious ferment that would be aroused, and as, hitherto, the Culuny has been singularly free from all such jars, I cannot advise your Lordship to accede to the second part of the Memorial In that case I think it not unlikely that the modifications proposed by Sir Richard Morgan would be accepted, should it be considered advisable to introduce them

I have, &c.

Signed)

Inclosure in No. 14

WH GREGORY

To the Right Honourable the Earl of Carnarvon, Secretary of State for the Colonies.

May it please your Lordship,

The humble Memorial of the Undersigned. the Catholic Bishops and

Vicars Apostolic of Ceylon :

Respectfully showeth,

THAT your Lordship's Memorialists, fully relying on your Lordship's firm will to promote the welfare and contentment of all Her Majesty's subjects in the colonies, beg leave to address your Lordship on the subject of the position of the Roman Catholics in this colony, as regards the laws of marriage named in the margin

That from the Government Census of 1871, the Roman Catholic population of Ceylon consists of over 180,000 souls, while the rest of the Christian population of all denominations does not amount to more than 56,000

That your Lordship's Memorialists can appeal with confidence to his Excellency the Governor as to the good conduct and loyalty of the Roman Catholies in Ceylon, who, with every inducement under the Dutch rule to abandon their faith, showed their reverence to its teaching by adhering steadfastly to it; and his Excellency will likewise bear his willing testimony to the beneficial results of the educational labours of the missionaries of our church, and of their self-denying efforts to promote among their flock Christian morality and civilization

That the Roman Catholics are naturally anxious to see the rites of marriage conducted in accordance with the rules of their church, its celebration unhampered by unnecessary formalities, and the heavy penalties to which their clergymen are now liable, removed.

That your Memorialists ask for no new concession, but simply to remove from the Roman Catholic subjects of Her Majesty in Ceylon burthens unknown to them previous to the passing of the above Ordinances, and to place them on the same footing as the Roman Catholics in Ireland and in the neighbouring Empire of India; and that they are ready to accept the provisions of the Irish Marriage Act or the Indian Christian Marriage Act of 1872, or, with the single addition of the acknowledgment of the licensing power of the bishops, the Ordinance No. 21, of 11th April, 1865, of British Columbia.

In the fond hope that your Lordship will graciously condescend to encourage his Excellency the Governor of Ceylon to legislate upon the matter, so as to remove from Her Majesty's Catholic subjects in Ceylon all the grievances of which they complain, your Memorialists have the honour to subscribe themselves, &c.,

(Signed) +HILARION SILLANI, O.S.B., Bishop of Callinico,

Vicar Apostolic of Colombo.

Colombo, January 12, 1875.

Jaffna, December 28, 1874.

+CHR. BONJEAN, O.M.I., Bishop of Medea, Vicar

Apostolic of Jaffna.

• Ordinance No. 6, of 1847; Ordinance No. 13, of 1863; Ordinance No. 8, of 1865.

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Inclosure 2 in No. 14.

A Short Statement of Catholic Objections to the Marriage Laws of Ceylon.

THE Catholic case in connection with the marriage laws in Ceylon is most simple; for, we ask nothing more than what ever since 1806 and previous to Ordi- nance No. 13 of 1863, we uniformly enjoyed under the British rule; nothing but what is conceded to our fellow Catholics both in Ireland and in India without inconvenience to any public interest. Sacraments to our flock without let or hindrance from the State. Beyond that We ask to be let free to administer Catholic necessary independence we seek no help, no support, no privilege from Government; we build and maintain our churches without Government assistance; our clergy, whose influence Government is always sure to find on the side of order, morality, and loyalty, are entirely supported by the voluntary contributions of our people, and the assistance of our brethren at home. legal validity of all Catholic marriages performed in accordance with the laws of A very simple law providing for the our church, with only the obligation on our part to furnish Government with regular and correct returns of all marriages performed by us, in any way and form that might be agreed upon afterwards, would give us every satisfaction and secure all the objects contemplated in Ordinance No. 13 of 1863. bound by preliminaries to marriage which curtail the liberty of our sacred ministry But we object to be and thwart its legitimate exercise, and we demur in particular to the penalties of section 15 of Ordinance No. 13 of 1863, penalties which the simple performance of our Ministerial duty may cause us to incur.

In a word, we claim the right of being as free to fulfil our duty with reference to the sacrament of marriage as we are with respect to every other sacrament.

In particular we object-

1st. To section 3 of Ordinance No. 13 of 1863, even as modified by section 2 of Ordinance No. 8 of 1865, by which churches built after the passing of those Ordi- nances are to receive a certificate of registration for the solemnization of marriages on a stamp of 31. (three pounds) value, and we suggest that, as an enlightened Government ought not to put any check on the multiplication of the means of Christian moralization, new churches should receive certificates on unstamped paper. 2ndly. By Ordinance No. 13 of 1863, marriage is not to be solemnized until after twenty-one days' notice to Civil Registrar and receipt of that officer's certifi- cate (sections 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14); a clergyman solemnizing any marriage before the issue of that certificate is by section 25 made guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty of 501. (fifty pounds) fine, and to imprisonment for three years with or without hard labour. The licensing power of the Bishop is ignored, but the Governor may license the issue of certificate before twenty-one days. Such licence to bear a stamp of 31. (three pounds).

It is against our conscience to wait for the permission of the civil power to administer sacraments.

(2.) It lowers us in the estimation of our people, and makes weak their faith. (3.) It results in multiplied cases of concubinage, as the sad experience of ten years has taught us, and such a rule of waiting for the expiration of twenty-one days binds the good will of the missionaries to remove the lamentable plague of immoral connections. Missionaries can seldom or never remain twenty-one days in Christian villages.

No amendment of the law which did not purely and simply recognize the civil validity of all Catholic marriages performed according to the laws of the Catholic Church, and by which the obligation of obtaining from the Registrar a certificate of notice was not removed, could be considered by us an adequate relief. These preliminaries are as perfectly useless as they are annoying and vexatious to us. The notoriety of any marriage, according to the Catholic practice, is more sacred than according to the affixing of a notice at the Registrar's.

We are ready to meet Government views as to the means to ensure the regular transmission to the provincial Registrar of all marriages solemnized by Catholic Clergymen under us.

In Ireland the parties themselves have to transmit the clergyman's certificate of their own marriage to the Registrar.

In India the returns of all the marriages performed by a clergyman are periodi- cally transmitted to Government. Either of these modes of transmission would be