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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TLC.O. 882

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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aloof from the strife of parties, so as to be able to keep the balance equal between all classes and interests.

6. Far from observing that rule of action, his Excellency has meddled in politics to such an extent that he has become the avowed leader of the clique that laboured in the Electoral Commission to obtain a high franchise in order to grasp political supremacy. Strange to say, the more this clique displayed anti-English feelings, the more his Excellency's sympathies with it grew. It was Sir John Pope Hennessy who gave it its war cry,

Mauritius for the Mauritians," who countenanced the scandalous attacks against Colonel Stanley's good faith, who proclaimed that blunders and injustices are the natural consequence of the bureaucratic rule of Downing Street, all of which are calculated to stir up those sentiments of hatred against their rulers which are so long to vanish among conquered races.

7. With a view to putting a stop to the anti-English policy pursued by Sir John Pope Hennessy, the party of which I am one of the leaders, appealing to the loyalty of the electors, resolved to checkmate at the poll the staunchest supporters of his Excellency's policy. A perusal of a speech delivered by me during the electoral campaigo, a copy of which is annexed, will convince your Lordship of the stress that was then laid on the anti-English feelings of his Excellency's clique. Dr. Beaugeard, my senior colleague of the Council, and myself had succeeded in throwing such an enthusiasm amongst the electors that; weeks before the elections, no possible doubt could exist on the defeat of his Excellency's friends, Messrs. Newton and Guibert. It was then that, according to the rumour, his Excellency the Governor, yielding to the pressure of his clique, had the promise made to Mr. Ferguson, who stood backed by the commercial class, of a seat as à nominated member of the new Council, to induce him to withdraw his candidature, so as to increase the chances of his supporters. Mr. Ferguson declined the offer, and, on the poll day, his Excellency's policy received, by the return of Dr. Beaugeard and myself, and the defeat of Messrs. Newton and Guibert, the most solemn condemnation from the largest and the most enlightened electorate of Mauritius.

8. It being also reported: 1. That Mr. Beyts had written to Mr. Ferguson that he was desired by his Excellency to inform him that in case he should fail at the election his Excellency would find it impossible to appoint him nominated member of the Council: and 2. That, despite an intimation received from your Lordship to appoint Mr. Ferguson nominated member of the Council, his Excellency the Governor had named one Mr. Alfred Lavoquer. I asked at the same meeting of the Council the following question of the Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor and Colonial Secretary: "Whether a Despatch has been received from the Right Honourable the Secretary of "State for the Colonies, intimating to his Excellency the Governor to appoint nomi- "nated members of the Council of Government Messrs. Fraser, Ambrose, Ferguson, and, in case such Despatch has been received, when it is intended to communicate the sume to the Council?""

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The answer was that no Despatch exists in the Colonial Secretary's office.

9. Here, again, your Lordship will doubtless find further evidence tending to confirm the first rumour. In fact, of the four unofficial members of the old Council that do not form part of the new Legislature as elected members, three-Messrs. Fraser, Ambrose, and Newton-were offered a nominee scat, whilst Mr. Ferguson, whose assistance would have been in many respects so valuable to the Council, was systemati- cally set aside by the Governor. The conclusion to be drawn from this fact comes

in support of the report that a warning was given to Mr. Ferguson by the Governor that in case he would fail at the election it would be impossible for his Excellency to appoint him nominated member of the new Council.

10. However painful my duty is to address your Lordship on a question touching the honour, dignity, and trustworthiness of Her Majesty's representative in this island, I cannot flinch from discharging it. Public morality, my Lord, the most elementary principles of justice and right, are too often injured by Sir John Pope Hennessy not to provoke some 'day in Mauritius such an outburst of indignation, the consequences of which no one can foresee. For my own part, belonging to a race which has been so long England's bitterest foe, and descending from forefathers who have spent their blood in fighting against Ergland, it would have been but natural if, yielding to the strength of inherited prejudices, I should have sided with his Excellency in his anti- English and disloyal policy. But although I cherish in my heart, with regard to my ancestor' mother-country, feelings of affection and love, I cannot forget that I am born a British subject, and I value too much the glory and pride attached to the title not to prove myself worthy of it. But when I perceive that England's sacred fame is allowed to be sullied by him who, in this island, represents the Queen, I cannot, my

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Lord, in the name of those thousands of my fellow countrymen, of whom I am the spokesman, refrain from saying that the Minister who would permit the present system of Government, which is a disgrace to the Empire, to continue unchecked in Mauritius would incur a grave responsibility.

I have, &c. (Signed) G. DE CORIOLIS, Member of the Council for Port Louis.

ANNEXURE.

EXTRACT from a letter, which appeared under my signature, in "The Mercantile Record

and Commercial Gazette" on the 26th of November last.

"I now proceed to appeal to this portion of our community, of which you are the spokesman, and ask what stand the British party is going to take in the coming struggle. Are Englishmen, living in Mauritius, to consider themselves as outsiders and keep aloof, or are they to combat, shoulder to shoulder, in concert with those Mauritians who, like myself, are of one heart and of one purpose with them with regard to the mother-country, theirs by birth, ours by adoption?

"If I am permitted to shape a policy, wide in its scope, patriotic in its aim, and shall meet with the approbation of all who are free from any taint of self-interest or dissimula- tion, I would say that the main object upon which our common efforts must be centred is to nip in the bud the shameful display of un-English feelings to which the reform has given vent in some quarters. We are here in a British colony, and strange to say, men who, belonging to a certain class of the population, profess sentiments of love towards Eugland are called traitors and have to bear the brunt of the malignity of the powers that be. Englishmen must not only be in the eyes of some at a discount in Mauritius, but must be persecuted and treated as wrongdoers. It may be surmised that, if it were possible to do so, it would be proposed to expel them from Mauritius, bag and baggage. Respect towards the Crown, and towards those through whom its authority is exercised, is a dead letter for some; witness the savage attack on Lord Stanley's good faith. The Government of this Colony is in the hands of a clique, whose gluttonous appetite for power and political supremacy binds those composing it to such a degree that they attempt to gag the press and exercise a persecution of the worst description against those who are bold enough to resist them. It is high time that resolute and true men should array themselves against the evil that besets the country, and that an end be put to the intolerable yoke of despotism and political imposture under which this Colony lingers. To attain this end we must strike a great blow and checkmate at the poll those men who proclaim themselves conservatives, whilst they have succeeded in throw- ing this island into a state of great excitement and confusion. The party to which I belong is sanguine in its expectation that we shall make our adversaries bite the dust. In common with the British party there is not the slightest doubt that the clique, which rules supreme over certain spheres, will be defeated, and Mauritius thus released from the pestilent system that oppressed it. Our opponents know well where the shoe pinches them, and have already an inkling of what is likely to befall them. They thought that the reform could be, with impunity, used by them as a glamour to be cast on weak eyes. But the country is now awakened, and their condemnation will be pronounced in a few weeks.

"Let us then be banded together in the approaching contest, side by side we shall win the day. It behoves Englishmen to stand by those who, in this country, have made it their guiding principle to bring the middle and lower classes to be impressed with a greater consciousness of the pride and glory attached to their title of British subjects. The broad principles of loyalty, honour, and justice are arrayed on our side. triumph is therefore a certainty. For my part, I have put my hand to the plough and I am not ready to draw back, in spite of the hatred and scorn heaped upen me by a handful of my fellow countrymen. With unflinching courage and inexhaustible patience, I stand in front of my party in an incessant struggle for what I deem to be public duty and truth. My hope lies in those who appreciate straightforwardness, thoroughness, and honesty of purpose, those main elements of the English character. No considera tion of personal interest stands between me and the duty I have undertaken, to promote the moral and material interests of the lower classes in this Colony. My political con- victions I express with perfect candour and sincerity. I enunciated them in my letter addressed last year to Lord Derby about the reform, when writing: The Mauritian people must be made to understand that England's ambition is to be united to her F 4

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