§ SIR ROBERT H. INGLISwished to ask the Secretary for the Colonies a question of which he had given a general notice. He wished to know whether any reply had been sent to the despatch of the Governor of New South Wales, forwarding the remonstrance of the Bishop of Sydney with regard to the rank and precedence which Earl Grey, by his despatch of January, 1849, had instructed the Governor to give to archbishops and bishops appointed by the Pope of Rome over and before bishops lawfully nominated by Her Majesty?
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONsaid, he was not aware till he entered the House that day of the exact nature of the question which his hon. Friend intended to put to him. In the present state of the question, the House would, perhaps, permit him shortly to refer to the despatch to which his hon. Friend had alluded. In the first despatch, that of 20th November, 1847, Earl Grey stated that as Parliament had by a recent act of legislation—the Charitable Bequests Act—formally recognised the rank of the Irish Roman Catholic archbishops and bishops, by giving them precedence after Protestant archbishops and bishops of the Established Church, it had appeared to the Government to be their duty to conform to that rule, and that he had accordingly to instruct the Governor that he should thereafter officially address Roman Catholic prelates by the title of your grace, or your lordship, as the case might be. He thought the House would see that the premises in this passage of the despatch did not exactly lead to the conclusion. In consequence of that despatch the Bishop of Sydney wrote to the Governor, wishing to know whether it was the intention of the Government that the Most Rev. Archbishop Holding should take precedence of a bishop of the Church 1297 of England. That letter was forwarded to Earl Grey, and on the 9th January, 1849, Earl Grey sent another despatch to Governor Fitzroy, stating that he regarded the Bishop of Sydney in the light of metropolitan, and that his instructions did not refer to the Bishop of Sydney, who, as metropolitan, was entitled to precedence over the Roman Catholic archbishop. In consequence of that despatch the remonstrance of the Bishop of Sydney, dated 22nd May, 1850, was sent home. In that remonstrance the Bishop of Sydney made some exceptions to the terms in which he had been referred to, and called attention to the fact, that, although as a metropolitan he was to take precedence of Roman Catholic archbishops and bishops, yet that did not apply to suffragan bishops. The despatch on which the question of his noble Friend was founded was received at the Colonial Office on the 4th of January, 1852, shortly before the present Government came into office. No answer had been given by his predecessor (Earl Grey) to that despatch. When he came into office he found that despatch had not been answered; and since then the pressure of business had been so great that up to the present time no answer had been sent to it. His intention, however, was to answer it in a very short time, and to communicate the views of the Government on the question.
§ SIR ROBERT H. INGLIStrusted that his hon. Friend would be able to state that he did not intend to recognise, in any answer he might send out, such a construction of the despatch of Earl Grey as he had now given.
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONthought that after the answer he had already given, his hon. Friend could hardly expect him to state anything further.
§ SIR ROBERT H. INGLISsaid, if he had a seat in the next Parliament, he should certainly bring the subject before the House.