HISTORICAL SKETCH. 461 



of the indignity inflicted, and praying for redress. Soon after 

 the reception of the petition, a despatch was sent to the Governor 

 instructing him to recognise as head of the Roman Catholic 

 Church in the colony any dignitary presenting credentials from 

 the Court of Rome, and whom the Catholics would recognise as 

 such. Thus ended — to the general satisfaction, I dare say — the 

 unseemly and most unpleasant contention with Sir Charles Elliot. 

 Archbishop Spaccapietra was recognised as head of the Roman 

 Catholic Church in Trinidad, and the arrears of his salary were 

 paid him ; these he handed over to the Crimean fund. Sir 

 Charles Elliot had governed the colony for a little more than two 

 years. 



On his retiring from the government of Trinidad, Robert 

 William Keate, Esq., was appointed his successor. I regret to 

 say that he allowed himself to be guided by coterie influences — 

 a most dangerous mistake in a mixed community like this. 

 Governors should always keep free from such influence, lest 

 they should, by acting partially, create antagonism. The prin- 

 cipal act of Mr. Keate was the establishment, in 1863, of the 

 Queen's Collegiate School of Secondary Instruction, on the plan 

 of the Queen's Colleges in Ireland. The Catholics were averse 

 to the school, contending that they could not and would not 

 avail themselves of the advantages it proffered, as it was a purely 

 secular institution ; that the school, though maintained at the 

 public expense, would, in fact, be so maintained for only a por- 

 tion of the population. They suggested that the Protestants and 

 the Catholics should establish their own schools, which the 

 Government would then assist. Their suggestions were dis- 

 regarded, and no account taken of their complaints. 



In August, 1863, an Ordinance was passed "for amending 

 the law with regard to the solemnisation and registration of 

 marriages.'" Such an Ordinance was needed to remedy abuses 

 of a serious nature and rather demoralising. Some of the pro- 

 visions of the Ordinance were such, however, as to cause uneasi- 

 ness and anxiety in the minds of the Catholics, who otherwise 

 approved the main object to be obtained. The Ordinance re- 

 quired that all buildings for the celebration of marriages should be 

 registered ; notice of every intended marriage was to be given to 

 the district-registrar, who, twenty-one days after receiving such 

 notice, would deliver a certificate, upon which the marriage 



