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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

LTTIC.O. 882

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

Preamble.

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Whilst, indeed, surprised at the peculiar circumstances of the vote; at its being sup-" ported by a Governor unfriendly to our Church; and at its being carried through with- out consultation in behalf of the great interest threatened with so sweeping a reduction, or any examination of the church requirements and deserts :-

We have the strongest, the utmost, confidence that Lord Knutsford will, at once, accord nis generous protection, and shield us from so unforeseen and (as we cannot but regard it) so exaggerated an interpretation of his Lordship's own Despatch; and aiso that the haste, inconsiderateness, severity, and (I must be excused for saying) the unhandsomeness, of the measure will secure us against its being passed at home.

Yet, the Church of England in Mauritius has felt it a duty, and indeed a necessity incumbent upon her at such a crisis, not to appear for a moment to let her cause go undefended or by default, and therefore to memorialize Her Majesty's Secretary of State upon the subject; complaining, indeed, but with all due respect and deference to autho- rities concerned, as well of the enormous and crippling reduction or transfer contemplated as of the unseemly treatment to which, it is thought, her cause has been subjected, in the very attempt to deal this indirect and covert but deadly blow to the British churches and co-related interests.

Permit me, Sir, to express the extreme regret occasioned me by the very untoward contingency that the rapid progress of this measure through the various stages of our local procedure, upon the eve of your arrival to assume the reins of Government, has made so unfortunate a business (as we deem it) the first matter upon which I am called officially to address your Excellency.

With this sincere apology, and with these remarks, I have the honour to submit, in triplicate, the most respectful memorial of the Mauritius Diocesan Church Council and others upon the subject.

It is signed by upwards of forty persons, many of them of marked influence in Colonial affairs, and all representing various sections of our community.

I beg respectfully to solicit of your Excellency the very great favour of its being, by your Excellency's goodness, forwarded to Lord Knutsford by the mail advertised to leave on the 10th January.

His Excellency

Sir Charles Cameron Lees, K.C.M.G.,

&c.

&c. Governor of Mauritius.

Royal Instructions about religion,

&c.

(Signed)

I have, &c.

A. D. MATHEWS, Archdeacon of Mauritius and Bishop's Commissary under

Ordinance 21 of 1874.

Enclosure 2 in No. 21.

To the Right Hon. LORD KNUTSFORD, G.C.M.G., Her Majesty's Secretary

of State for the Colonies.

The MEMORIAL of the MAURITIUS DIOCESAN CHURCH COUNCIL, and of others, in behalf of the CHURCH OF England in MAURITIUS.

MAY IT PLEASE Your LordshIP,

EVER since the cession of the island, the Church of England, loyally co-operating with other religous bodies of the reformed faith to this end, has been a notable factor in the progress of Mauritius. By divine grace, and under the "supremacy" of the sovereign, who in all the British dominions and countries" is by the law in things" ecclesiastical" the "highest power under God," and to whom the Church of England looks for protection and defence,— the said church having been duly established and legally maintained as a diocese ever since 1854, has laboured sucessfully in promoting the good of the Colony in manifold ways at a considerable expenditure of life and resources, and with the aid of Government.

By the Royal Instructions of the Prince Regent, of the 10th April 1811, toleration and protection were commanded towards the various forms of the

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Christian religion, "Roman Catholic," and "Evangelical"; and any assumption of "authority" on the part of the Roman Catholic Church over others was strictly forbidden. In fact, the laws of the empire are fundamentally against the same; and it is a maxim of the British Constitution that neither the Pope nor "any foreign power" has any authority whatsoever within the Queen's dominions.

almost entirely of

Since the Treaty of Paris and the consequent supersession of the "temporary Establishments, administration of the said islands" (Mauritius and Bourbon,-Art. 3, Royal grants, privileges, c Instructions aforesaid to Sir R. T. Farquhar), the Government of Great rent creation and Britain has from time to time graciously conferred, allowed, and sanctioned free bestowal. important additions and augmentations to the Churches of England and of Rome, including the recognition, since 1847 only, of a Roman Catholic Bishop, at first in "partibus," and now using the title of Bishop of Port Louis; while the English Bishop has always preserved that of Bishop of Mauritius. The Roman Catholic staff of clergy was insignificant during the French period, and the number of Roman Catholics has not so very greatly augmented, during the British occupation, though the establishment has been perhaps increased tenfold. No argument asserting obligation to sustain ancient establishments or rights antecedent to 1814, and seeking to apply such asserted obligation to the existing state of things, will bear examination.

But, of late years, the Church of Rome has put forward the most arrogant Excessive and arro- and extraordinary claims; and

perpetually seeking to encroach, in the gant claims, &c. provinces of religion and education, beyond the due limits laid down in the beginning under the instructions aforesaid; and, indeed, she seems to be not indisposed to "alienate the minds of the inhabitants." (Art. 11 of said "instructions" recently republished.) Instances of her intolerant action may be cited of common notoriety, in connexion with marriage, the Royal College, Indian education, Government schools, elections, conditional loyalty, &c.

the Anglican Bishop.

For the last year or two we have been aware that a serious attack was impending Attack upon the Pro- upon the Protestant churches, pledged as they are to a liberal line of action testant charches and in the causes referred to above, as well as to British ideas in general; and now this has taken shape in an onslaught upon what we hold to be the right and lawful position of the Anglican Bishop, and upon the revenues of the Protestant

churches.

Had this last matter been confined, 'as your Lordship has suggested that it A moderate re-adjust- should be, within the limits of a friendly proposal for a moderate redistributionment is one thing; after fitting examination of requirements, this Council would have recognised the need of advising reasonable concession and submission in conformity with the intimations contained in the Despatch, No. 314, of the 20th September 1889.

wholesale appropria-

But, painful as it is to record, instead of anything of the kind, a war of Party hostility and attempted extermination has been at once undertaken and waged by the leaders tion are another. of one Christian church against another, by one party against another, vizt., against the Church of England and the British community. So that we are compelled, as it were, almost to stand for our lives, in defence of our principles and of our faith.

Indeed we have been given to understand that, should the measure succeed, Not to stop here. which, however, we do not contemplate as possible, the matter is not to stop here, but a further reduction will again and again be insisted upon. In fact, the Church of Rome in Mauritius seems to have pledged herself never to rest till she has realised her intolerable claim to reign supreme politics, education,

and religion, and suppressed all liberty. This is a far graver issue than evch the important and financial interests involved. But we are confident that under God, your Lordship will be pleased to prevent this and see our due influence and rights preserved. It is the former which is aimed at even more

than are our resources. With these views, "religious equality " has, for the Religions equality occasion, been forced into a false interpretation, and made an opportunist watch-mind as a word. But your Lordship has drawn attention to and illustrated the evident truth that "religious equality" means the equality of religions, and a fair treat-