§ MAJOR ARBUTHNOTasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether any reply has been sent to the Despatch of the Acting Governor of Mauritius, (dated 2nd May 1872), submitting Petitions to Her Majesty from the representatives of the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Bishop against the Ecclesiastical scheme proposed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies; and, if not, whether the Secretary of State proposes to assent to the suggestions embodied in those Petitions; or, if no decision has yet been arrived at by him, he will direct that no changes in the Ecclesiastical arrangements of the Colony shall be pressed until the subject shall have been discussed in Parliament?
§ MR. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSENSir, having considered the Memorials upon the subject received from the colony, Her Majesty's Government have determined not to proceed further with the measures they had proposed with a 659 view to remove the inequalities between the different religious communions. It is right I should add, that we cannot consent that the total amount of money voted for ecclesiastical purposes in the colony should be increased. I wish also to take this opportunity of correcting an error into which I inadvertently fell in speaking upon a kindred subject on Tuesday last. I stated that in St. Lucia, with some 30,000 Roman Catholics and 2,000 Protestants of all denominations, the endowments of the former were £900, and the Church of England £800. I had mistaken the purport of a despatch that £400 was received by two Anglican clergymen. It is not £400 each, but the total endowment is £400;so that the inequality is less than I imagined, though still great.
§ MAJOR ARBUTHNOTinquired whether matters had remained in statu quo?
§ MR. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSENsaid, no further steps had been taken.