THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 573 



he also advised the government to take the initiative by suhmitting to the 

 legislature a bill to carry out the reforms. Such a bill was accordingly laid 

 before the Assembly. The House readily passed it, the Legislative Council only 

 with reluctance. Its passage was sufficient to quiet the minds of the sectarians. 

 The agitation ceased at once. The following year the Governor reported that 

 although a " lamentable amount of sectarian animosity " had been aroused, the 

 change from the old usage had operated beneficially to the state of social feeling 

 in the Colony. 



The Bahamas a Bishopric. 



In 1861 the Bahamas were separated from the diocese of Jamaica and 

 themselves erected into a bishopric, and the then archdeacon of the Colony 

 was promoted to the seat of bishop. The established church continued to 

 receive support from the public treasury until 1869. The disendowment came 

 at that time as a result of the financial depression following the American 

 Civil War. The discussion of this question of disendowment will therefore be 

 deferred until later. 



Commercial Conditions. 



The Bahamas have never had a permanent trade of any great magnitude. 

 It was long hoped that Nassau might become the center of such a commerce, 

 and these hopes seemed about to be realized when in ] 843, the Eoyal Mail Steam 

 Packet Company made this port the distributing point for its West Indian 

 mails. Thjs arrangement, while it lasted, added greatly to the ease of com- 

 munication with the outside world, but it was destined to continue only a few 

 years. Several things contributed to lead the company to remove its base from 

 Nassau. The harbor -was not suitable for vessels carrying the mails. The 

 route through the Bahama waters was unsafe owing to the great number of 

 banks and projecting rocks, and other ports in the West Indies offered better 

 anchorage and better facilities in other respects. After its removal the trade of 

 the Colony relapsed into the old channels. The ports were less frequently 

 visited by carriers of commerce, and the Islands again suffered from that same 

 isolation which they had felt before. At times it was difficult even to keep 

 up regular communication with the outside world by mail. 



Blockade-Ednning. 



A great change in commercial conditions occurred during the American 

 Civil War. Owing to the extraordinary circumstances existing in the neigh- 



