CO882-(4-5) — Page 189

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

PEPTIC.O. 882

5

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-~NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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more political than religious, I take the liberty of commending the arguments and prayer of the memorial, notwithstanding its length, to your Lordship's patient and most favourable consideration with the greater earnestness.

3. I have already expressed to your Lordship my own very respectful but emphatic protest against the proposed vote of transfer, as being in my opinion contrary alike to the real wishes and interests of the Colony at large, to the policy of the British Empire, and to the principle of religious equality properly understood. For a measure which must of necessity cripple and bumiliate the chief agency for civil and religious liberty in a Colony so circumstanced as Mauritius, by making (as it does) a merely numerical calculation the chief, if not the only, factor, and transferring (if I may so speak) a six- pence of

every shilling of our resources to the florin of the Church of Rome, while the work we have to do is scattered over precisely the same area, and necessarily involves a higher minimum of outlay. Such a measure, I say, seems to me to be incompatible with equal fairness to both religions. Far better in every way, and far easier, it would seem to me to be to make a moderate additional grant to the Church of Rome, as I see is suggested in the 2nd of the concluding requests of the memorial. This I believe would fully meet the real wishes of all the loyal members of that communion and was indeed proposed by Sir Celicourt Antelme. It could also be easily borne by the revenue, adding (as explained) only some Rs. 11,000 to the outlay.

4. Your Lordship, however, asks me to suggest in what way I consider that a substan- tial transfer may be made with least injury to the Church of England on the hypothesis that a transfer is necessary, In that case I take it for granted that the course to be followed should involve the fewest changes in the existing laws, least liabilities to the Treasury bereafter, and the greatest probability of a lasting settlement.

5. Keeping these points in view, I would observe that Rs. 28,000 of the whole Ecclesiastical Budget (Rs. 129,150) are now voted by annually-changing grants to all the churches at the discretion of the Governor, and in proportion to ascertained equivalents, requirements, and deserts. Of that sum, Rs. 10,000 are for the building of places of worship, and Rs. 8,000 for siding ministers serving in churches so built (under Ordinance 54, of 1844), while the remaining Rs. 10,000 are for the "moralisation" of the Pagan Coolies from India by agents speaking and using their vernaculars (Secretary of State's Despatch). No one so aided has any claim to the pension or other "service" privileges available for the agents on the fixed establishment

6. This item, therefore, of Rs. 28,000 seems unquestionably the simplest to deal with as involving grants of a special kind and for a special object now partly met, e.g., buildings. A simple change in Ordinance 54, of 1844, would render the whole of its grant available for salaries; and all the Rs. 18,000 might be assigned to 12 new Roman Catholic priests at Rs. 1,500 p.a. each, the same rate at which eight were added a few years ago by Governor Sir A. Phayre. The “ moralisation" grant should then, I think, be divided at the Governor's discretion, as now, according to the agency employed. Or, if it were thought simpler, these annual grant-(Rs. 18,000 and 10,000) might be consolidated and divided in the proportions of Rs. 4,000, Rs. 6,000, and Rs. 18,000 to the Churches of Scotland, England, and Rome respectively. Care would doubtless be taken against a progressive expense to the Treasury through the items becoming" pensionable," as well as against liability to further modifications.

7. Each of these plans would give 12 new Roman Catholic priests to the existing staff of 32, the corresponding number salaried for the Church of England remaining at nine, And while no addition has been made to our resources for the last quarter of a century, no fewer than 20 new priests will thus have been granted to the Church of Rome in the last 15 years.

I further venture to submit that this complicated question can only be fairly adjudicated by considering the necessary requirements of the parochial agency of each church for the work it has to accomplish, and not by any "capitation" allowance such as that of the proposed vote,† the suggestions in the foregoing paragraphs give an average of less than 2,500 souls to each Roman Catholic priest, even reckoning at the wrong census figure of 108,000 professed adherents. And, beyond contradiction, the great bulk of this community is closely massed in half a dozen centres at most, e.g., Port Louis, Beau Bassin, Rose Hill, Curepipe, and Maheburg.

• Nork~I append an extract from this mail's monthly "Commercial Gazette" confirming this statement from a very different standpoint (January 4, 6, and 7).

↑ Nor-Even so this vote wa very inaccurately measured, both as to adherents, amounts, and arrears of jayinente, not to speak of such foreign elements as changing “ building" grants.

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9. Another very important element in this consideration is the following. It is incon- ceivable that in any circumstances it would be proposed, on a vacancy, to make the stipend of the English Bishop (Rs. 7,200+1,000 for horse allowance) a transferable item. For not only is such a head as equally essential to us as to the Church of Rome, but the latter has a second Bishop (salaried by Government) in part of the Anglican diocese, viz., in the Seychelles, 1,000 miles away. And further, it would involve the entire abolition of the recently enacted Church Ordinance (21 of 1874), which fixes the Bishop's position, succession, and emoluments, besides providing for the temporalities of the church. The course would involve, I respectfully urge, Protestant community, and be unwelcome to the "Coloured" community at large.

an irreparable injury to the English and 10. Again, to transfer from our small staff of nine clergymen on the fixed establishment, an average of only one to each civil district of the Colony, any stipend which might fall vacant, would be a serious blow to our organisation. For most important and encouraging as is the work among the non-Christian community, it is (I think) less likely to be permanently checked by a Governmental diminution of aid than the parochial work would be. The foreign "missionary societies might possibly be induced to add to their present valued help, an assistance which it is impossible to secure in England for Colonial parochial work, however poor (as in our case) the population may be.

11. Indeed it is evident that the only truly " commensurable quantities" in the problem before us are those connected with the clergy on the "Fixed Establishment." Thus the relative position under the transfer proposed above (paras. 6 and 7) would be as follows, irrespective of the Bishops: the Church of Rome with Rs. 75,500; of England, Rs. 23,000; of Scotland, Rs. 3,250.

Or in detail:-

1 Vicar General 15 priests, at 2,000

16

» 1,500

32 present total 12 additional

·

·

44

1 chaplain at

7

1 at

>

Roman Catholic.

English.

at 2,000

For writer

Scotch.

Rs.

3,500 30,000 24,000

Rs. 57,500 18,000

Rs. 75,500

4,500

-

•

4,000 14,000

22,500

500

Total Rs. 23,000

Rs. 3,250

12. Supposing the remaining discretionary grant ("moralisation") to be divided equally among the three churches, thus assigning Rs. 3,338 to each, there would be a loss to the English Church on last year's resources of Rs. 7,597 and a slight gain to that of Scotland of Rs. 1,193. The Church of Rome would gain 12 priests, besides this pro- portion of the moralisation grant-a very substantial transfer.

13. In consideration, however, of the many valuable Indian agents who must be seriously affected by this proposed diminution, if at once carried into execution, seeing

• Nora.-—-As many as nine Indian clergymen have been trained and ordained by our Church in Mauritius of late years; while I am not aware of one such ease outside it. Only five, however, at present survive,

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61946,

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