36 TRINIDAD. 



are God's" that is to say, by granting full liberty to the ministers 

 of religion in everything concerning religion ; and by placing at 

 the disposal of the tax-payers, for ecclesiastical purposes, their full 

 share of the funds they may contribute to the general revenue of 

 the country. 



I do not wish to enter into an examination of the merits or 

 demerits of church establishments; but I dare conscientiously 

 affirm, that in comparatively newly-settled countries, and parti- 

 cularly in small communities like ours impoverished as they are 

 and struggling for their very existence state churches are an 

 invidious, unjust, and impolitic institution ; it ought therefore to 

 be abandoned for a more liberal and equitable plan. If tax- 

 payers are entitled to a share of the funds contributed by them- 

 selves, it is to such portion as is applicable to the provision of 

 those wants which are most essential, and to the furtherance of 

 those interests which are dearest, to human nature. The course 

 to be adopted by the Government appears to me very simple and 

 plain : it ought to extend an equality of protection to all deno- 

 minations; and this line of policy seems clearly to be dictated by 

 the very circumstances of the case. Such protection may be 

 afforded in various ways : 1st, by granting a certain stipend to 

 each clergyman ; 2ndly, by voting a general fund for ecclesias- 

 tical purposes, and distributing the same to the different con- 

 gregations, allowing to each a sum proportionate to the number 

 of its members ; or, 3rdly, by withdrawing all salaried allowances 

 from the clergy, but supplying them with a comfortable residence 

 and suitable glebe leaving to their congregations the duty of 

 their maintenance and by erecting churches where ^sufficiently 

 large congregations exist. 



I am aware that many would prefer the system of volun- 

 tary contribution, and would do away with all aid from the state. 

 But, not only are we not ripe for the voluntary system, but the 

 inhabitants of these islands are in too straitened a position to be 

 able to maintain a respectable and efficient clergy at their sole 

 expense. The voluntary system has also, in my opinion, the very 

 great inconvenience of placing the minister of religion at the 

 mercy of his flock, and of rendering him, to a certain extent, 

 subject to, and dependent on, their pleasure, even in things per- 

 taining to religion. 



The system now followed of giving a certain stipend to each 

 clergyman, or of attaching a salary to each parish has, on the 

 other hand, the disadvantage of rendering the clergyman too de- 

 pendent on Government, and too independent of his flock ; it has 

 also the defect of opening the door to captious demands now for 

 a curate, next for a church or a parsonage thus creating a dis- 

 cretional source of expense to the colony. 



The system which would provide parsonages and lands for the 



