§ MR. CARVELL WILLIAMS (Nottingham, S.)asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether there has been received at the Colonial Office a Memorial from Ceylon, asking for an extension for another five years of the payments, out of the public revenues of the Dependency, of annual grants for ecclesiastical purposes, instead of such grants ceasing in the case of vacancies 62 in July, according to the decision of the Secretary of State for the Colonies at the end of 1880; whether he will place such Memorial before Parliament; and, whether he will give an assurance that the prayer of the Memorial will not be granted without affording to Parliament an opportunity for considering the subject?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (MR. OSBORNE MORGAN) (Denbighshire, E.)A Memorial from Ceylon to the effect stated in the Question has recently been received at the Colonial Office; and the Governor has been informed, in reply, that the Secretary of State cannot consent to postpone the withdrawal of these ecclesiastical grants after the expiration of the period previously decided. Under these circumstances, the hon. Member will hardly require the Memorial to be laid before the House.