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had arrived a day after the fair, and were hungry, and annoyed at finding no prey.

Nothing could exceed the deplorable state of Java at the period of its conquest by the British forces in 1811. The natives had at all times been enslaved and oppressed by the Dutch colonists; and, from the strict blockade of our cruizers, the produce of the soil which they were unable to export was rotting in the warehouses, and reducing the latter to a state of bankruptcy.

The system of government immediately introduced by lord Minto, under the able superintendence of Mr. Raffles, corresponding with that existing in British (and what is here termed western) India, very much altered the state of affairs; but it more especially ameliorated the condition of the native Javanese. It had been usual to compel the people to labour at the public works, whenever occasion required, without any, or at least for a very inadequate, remuneration. They were also obliged to deliver in a certain quantity of produce, often exceeding what they were able to afford; whilst they were tyrannically restricted to the cultivation of those articles only which best answered the purposes of the Dutch monopolists. By the new order of things these forced services were immediately abolished. The people were paid a reasonable price for their voluntary labour; and, instead of arbitrary and compul

sory deliveries, encouragement was given to grow what were considered the most valuable productions of the island, and the Javanese were now stimulated to exertion by having an interest in the fruits of their industry. The revenue was now raised (except in one or two immaterial instances, which could not at once be conveniently altered) by a moderate land-tax on the whole. The rajahs or regents of the different districts were allowed (and indeed preferred) a fixed salary to abandon their claims, to the former harsh method of raising their incomes, whilst they were still intrusted under proper surveillance with the administration of the laws, which were also new-modelled and rendered more equitable, torture being abolished, and the instruments burnt in the public square. The Chinese farmers of revenue, employed under the Dutch, who possessed peculiar ingenuity in squeezing the natives, were either removed, or their conduct narrowly inspected by the British residents*.

* Sir T. Raffles, in his elaborate work on Java, states, "that whenever the Chinese formed extensive settlements in Java, the native inhabitants had no alternative but that of abandoning the district, or of becoming slaves of the soil. Their monopolizing spirit was often even pernicious to the produce, as may be seen even at this day in the immediate vicinity of Batavia, where all the public markets are farmed by them, and the degeneracy and poverty of the lower classes are proverbial.”

In Java there is no interruption to the course of vegetation. The spring is eternal; and it is quite usual on the same day to see them sowing in one field, the second in half blossom, and reaping in the third. But with all these advantages of soil and climate the people had been driven to relinquish their native villages, and even to destroy the trees which the cruel impolicy of the whites compelled them to cultivate equally against their interest and their inclination.

In the first settlement of colonies, it is notorious that enormities were committed by all Europeans on the aborigines of the country; but without flattering our amour propre national, this unconciliatory and overbearing system seems to have been far less practised by us than by other nations, if we may judge from the comparative personal security with which a Briton roams every where at large. Previous to our possession of Java (when travelling became even more safe than in England), no Dutchman ever ventured to undertake a journey among the natives without a guard. The same is the case with the Portuguese and the original Brazilians, as well as the Spaniards at Manilla, and throughout the whole island of Luconia.

With the Javanese harsh and rigorous measures seem, and indeed have been clearly proved to be, as unnecessary as they are unjustifiable, for few people bear a more mild, docile, or inoffensive

character. They are a distinct race from the Malays of the coasts, not only speaking a different language, but are anxious not to be confounded with them. Lord Minto, who was at Java at the period of its falling into our possession, made the following observations on the existing state of affairs, and the alterations he judged necessary :

Contingents of rice, and, indeed, of other productions, have been hitherto required of the cultivators, by government, at an arbitrary rate; this, also, is a vicious system, to be abandoned as soon as possible. The system of contingents did not arise from the mere solicitude for the people, but was a measure alone of finance and control, to enable government to derive a revenue from a high price imposed on the consumer, and to keep the whole body of the people dependent on its pleasure for subsistence. I recommend a radical reform in this branch to the serious and early attention of government. The principle of encouraging industry in the cultivation and improvement of lands, by creating an interest in the effort and fruits of that industry, can be expected in Java only by a fundamental change of the whole system of landed property and tenure. A wide field, but a somewhat distant one, is open to this great and interesting improvement; the discussion of the subject, however, must necessarily be delayed till the investigation it requires is more complete. I shall transmit

such thoughts as I have entertained, and such hopes as I have indulged, on this grand object of amelioration; but I am to request the aid of all the information, and all the lights, that this island can afford. On this branch, nothing must be done that is not mature, because the change is too extensive to be suddenly or ignorantly attempted. But fixed and immutable principles of the human character, and of human association, assure me of ultimate, and, I hope, not remote, success, in views that are consonant with every motive of action that operates on man, and are justified by the practice and experience of every flourishing country of the world!"

The wisdom and sound policy of these liberal and enlightened views have been fully proved by the increasing happiness and prosperity of the colony, from the day they were practically adopted, up to the period of the transfer of the island; and that the same system should be continued under the restored government appears to be the decided opinion of the wisest and most clear-sighted of the Dutch colonists; as well for its obvious justice and humanity, as from a conviction of its superior efficacy in every other respect.

At the same time measures were taken to abolish slavery, for the continuance of which, in Java, there appeared not even the plea of expediency. The farther importation of slaves was forbidden