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CEYLON AND THE CINGALESE.

BY ONESIPHORUS,

AUTHOR OF CHINA AND THE CHINESE," &c.

CHAPTER VIII.

PLAYING CRICKET ON THE GALLEFACE-GOVERNMENT SERVANTS FORBIDDEN TO ENGAGE IN AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS-APPOINTMENT OF NON-LEGAL MEN AS DISTRICT JUDGES OPINIONS THEREON-SLAVE ISLAND-DINNER AT THE QUEEN'S HOUSE-DESCRIPTION OF GUESTS-COLONY FAMILIARITY AND MANNERS.

"Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit."

the bare idea What would

"THE idea of men in a tropical cli. mate playing at cricket; causes me to dissolve. become of me, were I to perpetrate the reality?"

"Don't be so lazy, Otwyn; you a soldier, and complain of fatigue; remember that exercise is good for the health, and if we mean to enjoy that great earthly blessing, we must take some trouble to obtain and retain it."

“All very true, Whalmer, I am a soldier, but my business is to stand the fire of balls from guns, not to run after them on a cricket-ground; or to storm batteries, if required, but not necessarily to be a batter. It is my duty to attend to a soldier's work; I am bound to endure fatigue, in the fulfilment of my duty, and to wield a sword; but it is neither my duty, nor pleasure, to scamper from wicket to wicket with an unwieldy weapon in my grasp, which is denominated a cricketbat; and if health be only obtainable and retainable through these violent measures, in my humble estimation the remedy is worse than the disease."

“Bad logic, Otwyn; however, let us go a little nearer to the players. I see Dighton on the ground; we will join him, and he will tell us who the players are. How are you, Dighton? I want you to tell me the names of the players. Otwyn is in a state of excitement at the idea of men playing at cricket out here."

"No wonder; it really appears a monomania in those who consent to perform such an operation, with the thermometer at eighty-eight."

"That's right, Dighton, I am glad that you coincide with me; the corporeal exertion required to play cricket is great at all times, but out here it would be, to me, unbearable."

"Who is that large man, rather embonpoint, who is bowling so lustily and vehemently ?"

"That is A. B., the queen's advocate; he is a famous fellow at cricket; and ill-natured folks say that he attends more to that game than he does to crown business."

"I must confess that, at this moment, his costume is not very legal, nor his manner very sedate ; no waistcoat, jacket, or braces, a broadbrimmed pith hat, covered with white cotton, and he is hitching up his trowsers every instant, to prevent their falling quite down; that is not very dignified-ah! but there gleamed forth the lawyer's spirit. Did you see the advantage he endeavoured to take of the batter?"

"No, I did not observe; but as the batter is J. S., the merchant, who is a knowing one himself, they are very fairly matched; so with them it is regularly diamond cut diamond."

"With what force the ball has struck that man-he seems hurt, I fear-who is he?"

"That is the manager of the bank, a decent sort of a fellow enough, and a very good cricketer. I don't think he can be much hurt, though, as he continues his game."

"I am glad of it; but what pleasure can you two fellows take in looking at men tearing about, streaming with perspiration, after a ball. For my part, I think those mad who voluntarily undergo such exertion, and those next mad who stand to look at them."

"If you wish it, Otwyn, we will take a stroll-shall we? for I confess that I begin to weary of gazing at their energetic movements."

"Ha, my boy, if you tire of doing

the looking-on part of the affair, why should you have bullied me for declining to perform the operative. I say those men ought to be pronounced non compos mentis, incapable of managing their own affairs; their property should be made over to the noncricketing portion of the community, and they should be placed in a lunatic asylum for the remainder of their natural lives, the inmates of which asylum should be supported by voluntary contributions."

"You are very hard upon them, Otwyn, but in my humble opinion the only objection to be urged against the cricketing is, that it is played upon the race-course in public, and it does not seem very consistent for the Queen's advocate to be doing his best in court at four o'clock to hang a man, and to be playing cricket at five o'clock, before the greater part of the population of Colombo; it derogates from his position to be seen playing like an overgrown boy. Cricketing is a manly game, and very conducive to health, and no objection could exist, if the game were indulged in on their own premises; and as A. B., J. S., and several other members of the cricket club, have large compounds belonging to their houses, they might play there for ever and a day, without drawing upon themselves unpleasant animadversions."

"I admit the objection you urge is, in the main, a correct one, and cricket had better be played in their own grounds, if it be necessary to be played for the sake of health; but a man needs some relaxation, after being in a crowded, heated court all day, and the mind naturally endeavours to shake off that which has occupied and wearied the mental powers. We are so constituted, that we seek in a novel course of excitement rest from the preceding; for, as all thinking men allow, change of employment is rest." "Agreed; only let the relaxation be in conformity with a man's age and position in society; and though totus mundus agit histrionem, I do not like to witness the characters, assumed by the actors in life's drama, unduly sustained."

"You are very right, Dighton," said Otwyn; "but what I complain of out here is, that few appear to know their real position, for the most of them

want to play the principal parts, whilst those who have a right to these characters, by some strange caprice, will place themselves upon a level with the subordinate personators."

"I believe, Otwyn, from what I have heard, that in all colonies the same faults will be found to existnamely, too close an amalgamation of the different grades of society, and this proves most distasteful to men of education and refined habits."

"I cannot tell what it may be in other colonies, but all I know is, that here it is unpalatable enough to me. Take, for instance, my regiment, the Ceylon Rifles. Some of the fellows are half-castes, nearly as dingy as that croaking crow, who call themselves Dutch and Portuguese descendants, are brother-officers of mine, and these fellows give themselves airs of importance, as they are my senior officers, try to assume and presume over me, as their junior and inferior officer. These animals, who have never been out of the island, are half educated men, with most contracted ideas. What congeniality can subsist between them and myself? None in the world. I do not mean to assert that there are no educated, gentlemanly men in the regiment; there are many, but they are Englishmen. Mind, I speak of the Burghers or halfcastes, Dutch and Portuguese descendants, as they call themselves. I should like you, Whalmer, to see Vanderstrutz swaggering about. Don't you remember the old Burgher at Galle, who shaved so close in changing the sovereigns? Well, Captain Vanderstrutz is his son. Is he not grand? It is perfectly ridiculous to see this hectoring, broad-shouldered, stuffed brute, swaggering about, talking of being in the Queen's service, &c. ; and remember that he is the son of the man who changed our gold at Galle, and who will retail out two yards of calico, or a bottle of beer; but this fellow is ny senior brother-officer, whom I must obey, and to a certain extent associate with. I am so disgusted with the whole thing, that I have written to my father to see if some exchange can be effected, and I have no doubt, with his interest, it will be arranged; at all events, if this arrangement cannot be effected, I have made up my mind to send in my

papers, and return home, as I would rather sweep the streets in England than be under the control of, or be compelled to associate with, these Burghers."

"I feared, Otwyn, that you would not like a colonial regiment for many reasons; but your father will be able to effect some arrangement as to an exchange. I believe none of us like, or are calculated for, a colony; nevertheless, I must stop and work my way up; but had I known, before leaving England, what a colony was, nothing could have induced me to enter one; but as I am here, here I must remain. Dighton and Tom are the best offone is a merchant, the other meaning to turn coffee or sugar planter; consequently they are their own masters, and independent."

"That's true, Whalmer, but even to a merchant a colony is not always agreeable. The mode of doing business is quite different from the method adopted at home; there is less honesty of purpose evinced from one to the other, or, as a lawyer would say, a good deal of sharp practice going on. Then look at many of the mere adventurers who have come out here, got goods consigned to them, term themselves merchants, and consider themselves upon an equality with the oldest and most respectable firms. No, no; I, as an English merchant, and honorable, straightforward man, state distinctly, that a colony is a very pleasant residence for the upstart trader; but to the merchant, who takes his own position in the mother country, as a gentleman and honorable man, it is not a peculiarly agreeable place of abode."

"We have the opinions of a military man, civil servant, and merchant -what says the agriculturist?"

"That you all know I abominate the place, and I have some doubts about settling here, more particularly since I find that land is put up at one pound per acre; and when an estate can be formed where there is a facility for land or water carriage, they tell me it will fetch a much higher price even than that."

"The time to have bought land was when it was sold at five shillings per acre, before this governor's time. Did not the government servants enrich themselves by buying the land, and

forming estates? My partner told me that these gentry used to agree amongst themselves not to give a higher price, or bid against each other. There was some gross jobbing before Sir Colin Campbell's time; the government people used to neglect the crown business, for which they were handsomely paid, to attend to their estates? Then a bother used to arise for the ready to work the estates with, and these gentry were compelled to borrow money at a high rate of interest, giving a mortgage on the property. Perhaps the estate did not turn out well under their management, the interest of the borrowed money could not be paid, the mortgage would be foreclosed, and the estate would pass into the merchant's hands, under whose judicious direction it would become most lucrative."

"But this governor very properly has caused all this to be done away with, as the government employés are forbidden to engage in agricultural pursuits, and are required to devote their whole time to the duties of their several offices. Although I regret, for your sake, Tom, that land cannot be purchased at five shillings per acre, I think the governor is to be commended for setting a high price upon crown lands. In fact, this colony has now a surplus revenue; and when Sir Colin Campbell came here, he found it a burthen to the mother country."

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My partner has mentioned to me the determined resistance which every member of the colonial government here offered to the governor, in carrying out and enforcing the requisite reformation necessary for the welldoing of the colony, as the civil servants were compelled either to give up their appointments, or their estates; and if they retained the former, they were obliged to do the work attached to each peculiar office. This did not suit these gentlemen, and Sir Colin was abused through thick and thin; but as the home government supported the governor's views, these gentlemen were eventually necessitated to knock under, and sing small."

"Quite right that they should be compelled to do the work they are paid for; but there is one reform I am absolutely astonished that Sir Colin Campbell has not wrought, namely,

the appointment of legal men to the benches of district courts and courts of requests: this is a crying evil, and ought to be remedied."

"Indeed this is very bad; and suitors suffer severely from men holding these appointments who have not made the law their study or profession. When this objection has been urged, the reply has been, that if suitors are dissatisfied with the decision of these judges, they have the power to appeal to the supreme court, which consists of the chief justice and two puisne judges, who are legal men. But then the unnecessary delay and expense entailed by this mode of procedure is very great, which many of the suitors are totally unable to incur, and are, therefore, compelled to abide by the decision of a judge who knows nothing either of law or equity."

"These are the most outrageous appointments that ever were heard of. Surely, where the interests of the community are concerned, and so large an amount of property is at stake, it should be the care of the government to appoint none but efficient legal men. Many, very many, barristers of talent and long standing, both at the equity and common-law bars in England, would be glad to accept these district judgeships; for the profession is overstocked at home, and would bear thinning. Thus the mother country, as well as the colony, would be benefited by the appointment of men educated for the legal profession; for, as Lord Brougham most justly remarked, the practice of the bar, to the many, does not offer the riches of Golconda, so as to induce talented, qualified men to refuse employment under the crown, for the uncertain practice of the bar, where few only obtain great practice or fame."

"There are more than two thousand barristers in England-how few of their names are ever before the public; and many men of brilliant minds, who are well versed in the intricacies of their profession, never have an opportunity of displaying their talents, knowledge, or eloquence, in a court. It is clear that no barrister can hope to succeed in his profession unless he has good connexion with solicitors. The solicitor can get employment without the barrister; but the latter requires the intervention of the

solicitors before he can hold a brief, or draw a pleading; and with the usual inconsistency of human affairs, it is considered infra dig. for a barrister to court a solicitor, or ask for business; in fact he would be cut by his brethren were he to seek employment from the class of men upon whom he is dependent. I speak thus feelingly," said Whalmer," having a brother at the equity bar, as clever a fellow as ever put on wig and gown; but who never has held, and, I fear, never will hold, a brief, solely because he has no solicitor who will give him an opportunity of showing to the world what he can do."

"But surely, Dighton, there must be some English barrister, or legal man, on the district benches."

"Out of thirty-four district courts and courts of request, two only have legal men, Europeans, on their benches (one is a barrister, and the other a writer to the signet), five of the other benches are filled by men who have received a legal education in the island, and several of these are half-castes, or Burghers, whilst the remaining courts have judges who never opened a law book until they had these appointments; consequently, they are totally unfitted for their position; and I believe the information that I have obtained on this subject to be as accurate as it can be, where changes are constantly taking place. The most efficient district judge has been Robert Langslow, a member of the commonlaw bar, who was sent out after the inhabitants had petitioned the home government that a legal man might be appointed to the district court of Colombo. Langslow performed his duty unflinchingly and sedulously, and administered the law to the satisfaction both of Europeans and natives. Somehow or other he incurred the displeasure of members of the colonial government, and Langslow was charged with slowness in the administration of justice, want of control of temper, and several other minor puerile misdemeanors, and he was suspended from the duties of his office, and eventually dismissed the government service, although English merchants of high standing in the colony, who had been suitors in his court, and numberless natives, stated their entire satisfaction at the mode in which Langslow had ad

ministered the law, and that they had never seen any undue exhibition of temper on the bench, and petitioned that he might be reinstated in his office. Langslow returned to England to seek redress at the hands of the home government, but after lengthened delays, in the teeth of satisfactory evidence as to his capability and control of temper, the dismissal was confirmed, and Robert Langslow, no longer a young man, had to seek to regain his connexion and practice, which he had given up for this appointment. It is no easy task for a man to begin the world on the wrong side of forty-more particularly with energy and spirit crushed by disappointment."

"Poor fellow," said Otwyn, “I feel for him acutely, but I know too well that it is generally futile to attempt to get reinstated in an office by the home government, after a colonial one has dismissed a party, for the Home Government feel bound, if possible, to support the acts of the colonial government. Huline, the chiefjustice of Hong-Kong, is a rare and fortunate exception. The governor suspended him-Hulme came home, sought, and obtained redress, by being reinstated in his office. This was a fortunate thing both for him and the colony, for a better judge and more humane man never sat upon a bench."

"I don't like all this party spirit, or living among such a set; let's change the conversation; and, Dighton, as you seem to know everything, can you tell me why this is called Slave Island?"

"When the Dutch had possession of the island, the slaves belonging to the government used to reside here, a certain space being enclosed, round which their huts were built, and this was surrounded by a high wall, the gates of which were locked on the slaves at night."

"Did they make slaves of the natives of Ceylon?"

"Yes, of many belonging to the lower castes then they also imported them and that is how you find so many descendants of the Caffres and other nations in the island. We forbade the importation of slaves in 1799; the year after, we declared Ceylon a king's colony, and some years after, slavery was abolished throughout the island."

"Thank you, Dighton; you have acquired a great deal of information since you came here, and impart it most readily; but as we have to be at the Queen's House by half-past seven o'clock, it is time to return home, and make ready our august persons."

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"It is hardly worth while to expend our breath in saying good-bye, as we shall so soon see each other again.”

"Come, Gus, let you and I toddle this way, while Dighton and Otwyn walk the other."

Half-past seven arrived, and with it many of the invited, to the Queen's House at Colombo; while some who thought to prove their right to be considered ultra fashionable-they certainly were extremely impertinentdid not arrive until nearly eight o'clock. The governor entered the drawing-room of the Queen's House exactly at half past seven o'clock, and ought to have found the whole of the guests assembled. The aids-de-camp had been doing the honours before Sir Colin Campbell entered the room, and were talking to various groups dispersed about the room and verandah, which consisted of military men in uniform, civilians, and merchants, in the ordinary dinner dress of Europeans. The ladies present were the wives of the various gentlemen, and the toilettes of these fair dames were neither particularly fashionable nor fraiche; all their dresses had a colony look. Their hair was badly arranged, and those who wore caps or turbans looked as if they had taken a siesta in them, as they appeared crushed and chiffoné. In short, the women did not look either well dressed or elegant, and their appearance did not accord with the spacious, brilliantly-lighted rooms, or to the gay uniforms of the military men. The governor was in the fulldress uniform of a general officer, wearing several orders and medals, and was a remarkably handsome man, between sixty and seventy years of age, well-built, but not tall, with hair completely silvered by the hand of time, and his bearing was that of a perfect gentleman and soldier: his keen piercing eye glanced round the room, as he bowed to the ladies, and, addressing one of his aids-de-camp, inquired if the whole party had arrived. Being answered in the negative, a slight shade of dissatisfaction passed

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