Memoir Of Hendrick Zwaardecroon, Commandeur Of Jaffnapatam Part 2

The Court of Justice has of late lost much of its prestige among the inhabitants, because, seeing that the Bellale Mudaly Tamby, to whom previous reference has been made, succeeded on a simple pet.i.tion sent to Colombo to escape the Court of Justice while his case was still undecided (as may be seen from a letter from Colombo of January 6, 1696, and the reply thereto of the 26th of this month), they have an idea that they cannot be punished here. Even people of the lowest caste threaten that they will follow the same course whenever they think they will not gain their object here, especially since they have seen with what honours Mudaly Tamby was sent back and how the Commissioners did all he desired, although his own affairs were not even sufficiently settled yet. A great deal may be stated and proved on this subject, but as this is not the place to do so, I will only recommend Your Honours to uphold the Court of Justice in its dignity as much as possible, and according to the rules and regulations laid down with regard to it in the Statutes of Batavia and other Instructions. The princ.i.p.al rule must be that every person receives speedy and prompt justice, which for various reasons could not be done in the case of Mudaly Tamby, and the opportunity was given for his being summoned to Colombo.

At present the Court of Justice consists of the following persons:--

The Commandeur, President (absent).

Dessave de Bitter, Vice-President.

Capt. van der Bruggen, Administrateur.

Abraham Biermans.

Lieut. Claas Isaacsz.

The Thombo-keeper, Pieter Chr. Bolscho.

The Ensign Arnoud Mom.

The Onderkoopman Joan Roos.

The Onderkoopman Jan van Groeneveld.

The Bookkeeper Jan de Wit, Secretary.

But it must be considered that on my departure to Mallabaar, and in case the Dessave be commissioned to the pearl fishery, this College will be without a President; the Onderkooplieden Bolscho and Roos may also be away in the interior for the renovation of the Head Thombo, and it may also happen that Lieut. Claas Isaacsz will be appointed Lieutenant-Dessave, in which case he also would have to go to the interior; in such case there would be only three members left besides the complainant ex-officio and the Secretary, who would have no power to p.r.o.nounce sentence. The Lieutenant van Hovingen and the Secretary of the Political Council could be appointed for the time, but in that case the Court would be more a Court Martial than a Court of Justice, consisting of three Military men and two Civil Servants, while there would be neither a President nor a Vice-President. I consider it best, therefore, that the sittings of the Court should be suspended until the return of the Dessave from the pearl fishery, unless His Excellency the Governor and the Council should give other instructions, which Your Honours would be bound to obey.

I also found that no law books are kept at the Court, and it would be well, therefore, if Your Honours applied to His Excellency the Governor and the Council to provide you with such books as they deem most useful, because only a minority of the members possess these books privately, and, as a rule, the Company's servants are poor lawyers. Justice may therefore be either too severely or too leniently administered. There are also many native customs according to which civil matters have to be settled, as the inhabitants would consider themselves wronged if the European laws be applied to them, and it would be the cause of disturbances in the country. As, however, a knowledge of these matters cannot be obtained without careful study and experience, which not every one will take the trouble to acquire, it would be well if a concise digest be compiled according to information supplied by the chiefs and most impartial natives. No one could have a better opportunity to do this than the Dessave, and such a work might serve for the instruction of the members of the Court of Justice as well as for new rulers arriving here, for no one is born with this knowledge. I am surprised that no one has as yet undertaken this work.

The advice of Mr. Laurens Pyl in his Memoir of November 7, 1679, with regard to the Court of Justice, namely, that the greatest precautions must be used in dealing with this false, cunning, and deceitful race, who think little of taking a false oath when they see any advantage for themselves in doing so, must be followed. This is perhaps the reason that the Mudaliyars Don Philip Willewaderayen and Don Anthony Naryna were ordered in a letter from Colombo of March 22, 1696, to take their oath at the request of the said Mudaly Tamby only in the heathen fashion, although this seemed out of keeping with the principles of the Christian religion (Salva Reverentio), as these people are recognized as baptized Christians, and therefore the taking of this oath is not practised here. The natives are also known to be very malicious and contentious among themselves, and do not hesitate to bring false charges against each other, sometimes for the sole purpose of being able to say that they gained a triumph over their opponents before the Court of Justice. They are so obstinate in their pretended rights that they will revive cases which had been decided during the time of the Portuguese, and insist on these being dealt with again. I have been informed that some rules have been laid down with regard to such cases by other Commandeurs some 6, 8, 10, and 20 years previous, which it would be well to look up with a view to restrain these people. They also always revive cases decided by the Commandeurs or Dessaves whenever these are succeeded by others, and for this reason I never consented to alter any decision by a former Commandeur, as the party not satisfied can always appeal to the higher court at Colombo. His Excellency the Governor and the Council desired very properly in their letter of November 15, 1694, that no processes decided civilly by a Commandeur as regent should be brought in appeal before the Court of Justice here, because the same Commandeur acts in that College as President. Such cases must therefore be referred to Colombo, which is the proper course. Care must also be taken that all doc.u.ments concerning each case are preserved, registered, and submitted by the Secretary. I say this because I found that this was shamefully neglected during my residence here in the years 1691 and 1692, when several cases had been decided and sentences p.r.o.nounced, of which not a single doc.u.ment was preserved, still less the notes or copies made.

Another matter to be observed is that contained in the Resolutions of the Council of India of June 14, 1694, where the amounts paid to the soldiers and sailors are ordered not to exceed the balance due to them above what is paid for them monthly in the Fatherland. I also noticed that at present 6 Lascoreens and 7 Caffirs are paid as being employed by the Fiscaal, while formerly during the time of the late Fiscaal Joan de Ridder, who was of the rank of Koopman, not more than 5 Lascoreens and 6 Caffirs were ever paid for. I do not know why the number has been increased, and this greater expense is imposed upon the Company. No more than the former number are to be employed in future. This number has sufficed for so many years under the former Fiscaal, and as the Fiscaal has no authority to arrest any natives without the knowledge of the Commandeur or the Dessave, it will still suffice. It was during the time of the late Onderkoopman Lengele, when the word "independent" carried much weight, that the staff of native servants was increased, although for the service of the whole College of the Political Council not more than 4 Lascoreens are employed, although its duties are far more numerous than those of the Fiscaal. I consider that the number of native servants should be limited to that strictly necessary, so that it may not be said that they are kept for show or for private purposes.[35]

The Company has endeavoured at great expense, from the time it took possession of this Island, to introduce the religion of the True Reformed Christian Church among this perverse nation. For this purpose there have been maintained during the last 38 years 35 churches and 3 or 4 clergymen, but how far this has been accepted by the people of Jaffnapatam I will leave for my successors to judge, rather than express my opinion on the subject here. It is a well-known fact that in the year 1693 nearly all the churches in this part of the country were found stocked with heathen books, besides the catechisms and Christian prayer books. It is remarkable that this should have occurred after His late Excellency Governor van Mydregt in 1689 had caused all Roman Catholic churches and secret convents to be dismantled and abolished, and instead of them founded a Seminary or Training School for the propagation of the true religion, incurring great expenses for this purpose. I heard only lately that, while I was in Colombo and the Dessave in Negapatam, a certain Lascoreen, with the knowledge of the schoolmasters of the church in Warrany, had been teaching the children the most wicked fables one could think of, and that these schoolmasters had been summoned before the Court of Justice here and caned and the books burnt. But on my return I found to my surprise that these schoolmasters had not been dismissed, and that neither at the Political Council nor at the Court of Justice had any notes been made of this occurrence, and still less a record made as to how the case had been decided. The masters were therefore on my orders summoned again before the meeting of the Scholarchen, by which they were suspended until such time as the Lascoreen should be arrested. I have not succeeded in laying hands on this Lascoreen, but Your Honours must make every endeavour, after my departure, to trace him out; because he may perhaps imagine that the matter has been forgotten. Such occurrences as these are not new in Warrany; because the idolatry committed there in 1679 will be known to some of you. On that occasion the authors were arrested by the Company through the a.s.sistance of the Brahmin Timmersa Nayk, notwithstanding he himself was a heathen, as may be seen from the public acknowledgment granted to him by His Excellency Laurens Pyl, November 7, 1679. I therefore think that the Wannias are at the bottom of all this idolatry, not only because they have alliances with the Bellales all over the country, but especially because their adherents are to be found in Warrany and also in the whole Province of Patchelepalle, where half the inhabitants are dependent on them. This was seen at the time the Wannias marched about here in Jaffnapatam in triumph, and almost posed as rulers here. We may be a.s.sured that they are the greatest devil-worshippers that could be found, for they have never yet admitted a European into their houses, for fear of their idolatry being discovered, while for the sake of appearance they allow themselves to be married and baptized by our ministers.

For instance, it is a well-known fact that Don Philip Nellamapane applied to His late Excellency van Mydregt that one of his sons might be admitted into the Seminary, with a view of getting into his good graces; while no sooner had His Excellency left this than the son was recalled under some false pretext. In 1696, when this boy was in Negapatam with the Dessave de Bitter, he was caught making offerings in the temples, wearing disguise at the time. It could not be expected that such a boy, of no more than ten or twelve years old, should do this if he had not been taught or ordered by his parents to do so or had seen them doing the same, especially as he was being taught another religion in the Seminary. I could relate many such instances, but as this is not the place to do so, this may serve as an example to put you on your guard. It is only known to G.o.d, who searches the hearts and minds of men, what the reason is that our religion is not more readily accepted by this nation: whether it is because the time for their conversion has not yet arrived, or whether for any other reason, I will leave to the Omniscient Lord. You might read what has been written by His Excellency van Mydregt in his proposal to the reverend brethren the clergy and the Consistory here on January 11, 1690, with regard to the promotion of religion and the building of a Seminary. I could refer to many other doc.u.ments bearing on this subject, but I will only quote here the lessons contained in the Instructions of the late Commandeur Paviljoen of December 19, 1665, where he urges that the reverend brethren the clergy must be upheld and supported by the Political Council in the performance of their august duties, and that they must be provided with all necessary comforts; so that they may not lose their zeal, but may carry out their work with pleasure and diligence. On the other hand care must be taken that no infringement of the jurisdiction of the Political Council takes place, and on this subject it would be well for Your Honours to read the last letter from Batavia of July 3,1696, with regard to the words Sjuttan Peria Padrie and other such matters concerning the Political Council as well as the clergy. (36)

With regard to the Seminary or training school for native children founded in the year 1690 by His late Excellency van Mydregt, as another evidence of the anxiety of the Company to propagate the True and Holy Gospel among this blind nation for the salvation of their souls, I will state here chiefly that Your Honours may follow the rules and regulations compiled by His Excellency, as also those sent to Jaffnapatam on the 16th of the same month. Twice a year the pupils must be examined in the presence of the Scholarchen (those of the Seminary as well as of the other churches) and of the clergy and the rector. In this college the Commandeur is to act as President, but, as I am to depart to Mallabaar, this office must be filled by the Dessave, in compliance with the orders contained in the letters from Colombo of April 4, 1696. The reports of these examinations must be entered in the minute book kept by the Scriba, Jan de Crouse. These minutes must be signed by the President and the other curators, while Your Honours will be able to give further instructions and directions as to how they are to be kept. During my absence the examination must be held in the presence of the Dessave, and the Administrateur Michiels Biermans and the Thombo-keeper Pieter Bolscho as Scholarchen of the Seminary, the Lieutenant Claas Isaacsz and the Onderkoopman Joan Roos as Scholarchen of the native churches, the reverend Adria.n.u.s Henricus de Mey, acting Rector, and three other clergymen.

It must be remembered, however, that this is only with regard to examinations and not with regard to the framing of resolutions, which so far has been left to the two Scholarchen and the President of the Seminary. These, as special curators and directors, have received higher authority from His Excellency the Governor and the Council, with the understanding, however, that they observe the rules given by His Excellency and the Council both with regard to the rector and the children, in their letters of April 4 and June 13, 1696, and the Resolutions framed by the curators of June 27 and October 21, 1695, which were approved in Colombo. Whereas the school had been so far maintained out of a fund set apart for this purpose, in compliance with the orders of His Excellency, special accounts being kept of the expenditure, it has now pleased the Council of India to decide by Resolution of October 4, 1694, that only the cost of erection of this magnificent building, which amounted to Rds. 5,274, should be paid out of the said fund. This debt having been paid, orders were received in a letter from Their Excellencies of June 3, 1696, that the inst.i.tution is to be maintained out of the Company's funds, special accounts of the expenditure being kept and sent yearly, both to the Fatherland and to Batavia. At the closing of the accounts last August the accounts of the Seminary as well as the amount due to it were transferred to the Company's accounts. The capital then was still Rds. 17,141, made up as follows:--

Rds. 10,341 entered at the Chief Counting-house in Colombo.

Rds. 1,200 cash paid by the Treasurer of the Seminary into the Company's Treasury, December 1, 1696.

Rds. 5,600 on account of church fines.

The latter was on December 1, 1690, on the foundation of the Seminary, granted to that inst.i.tution, and must now again, as before, be placed by the Cashier on interest and a special account kept thereof; because out of this fund the repairs to the churches and schools and the expenses incurred in the visits of the clergy and the Scholarchen have to be paid. Other items of revenue which had been appropriated for the foundation of the Seminary, such as the farming out of the fishery, &c., must be entered again in the Company's accounts, as well as the revenue derived from the sale of lands, and that of the two elephants allowed yearly to the Seminary. The fines levied occasionally by the Dessave on the natives for offences committed must be entered in the accounts of the Deaconate or of that of the church fines, for whichever purpose they are most required.

The Sicos [43] money must again be expended in the fortifications, as it used to be done before the building of the Training School. The income of the Seminary consisted of these six items, besides the interest paid on the capital. This, I think, is all I need say on the subject for Your Honours' information. I will only add that I hope and pray that the Lord may more and more bless this Christian design and the religious zeal of the Company.(37)

The Scholarchen Commission is a college of civil and ecclesiastical officers, which for good reasons was introduced into this part of the country from the very beginning of our rule. Their meetings are usually held on the first Tuesday of every month, and at these is decided what is necessary to be done for the advantage of the church, such as the discharge and appointment of schoolmasters and merinhos, [44] &c. It is here also that the periodical visits of the brethren of the clergy to the different parishes are arranged. The applications of natives who wish to enter into matrimony are also addressed to this college. All the decisions are entered monthly in the resolutions, which are submitted to the Political Council. This is done as I had an idea that things were not as they ought to be with regard to the visitation of churches and inspection of schools, and that the rules made to that effect had come to be disregarded. This was a bad example, and it may be seen from the Scholarchial Resolution Book of 1695 and of the beginning of 1696, what difficulty I had in reintroducing these rules. I succeeded at last so far in this matter that the visits of the brethren of the clergy were properly divided and the time for them appointed. This may be seen from the replies of the Political Council to the Scholarchial Resolutions of January 14 and February 2, 1696.

On my return from Ceylon I found inserted in the Scholarchial Resolution Book a pet.i.tion from two of the clergymen which had been clandestinely sent to Colombo, in which they did not hesitate to complain of the orders issued with regard to the visits referred to, and, although these orders had been approved by His Excellency the Governor and the Council, as stated above, the request made in this clandestine pet.i.tion was granted on March 6, 1696, and the pet.i.tion returned to Jaffnapatam with a letter signed on behalf of the Company on March 14 following. It is true I also found an order from Colombo, bearing date April 4 following, to the effect that no pet.i.tions should be sent in future except through the Government here, which is in accordance with the rules observed all over India, but the letter from Colombo of November 17, received here, and the letter sent from here to Colombo on December 12, prove that the rule was disregarded almost as soon as it was made. On this account I could not reply to the resolutions of the Scholarchen, as the pet.i.tion, contrary to those rules, was inserted among them. I think that the respect due to a ruler in the service of the Company should not be sacrificed to the private opposition of persons who consider that the orders issued are to their disadvantage, and who rely on the success of private pet.i.tions sent clandestinely which are publicly granted. In order not to expose myself to such an indignity for the second time I left the resolutions unanswered, and it will be necessary for Your Honours to call a meeting of the Political Council to consider these resolutions, to prevent the work among the natives being neglected. The College of the Scholarchen consists at present of the following persons:--

The Dessave de Bitter, President.

The Lieutenant Claas Isaacsz, Scholarch.

The Onderkoopman P. Chr. Bolscho, Scholarch.

The Onderkoopman Joan Roos, Scholarch.

Adria.n.u.s Henricus de Mey, Clergyman.

Joannes Roman, Clergyman.

Philippus de Vriest, Clergyman.

Thomas van Symey, Clergyman.

The a.s.sistant G.o.dfried Abraham, Scriba.

I am obliged to mention here also for Your Honours' information that I have noticed that the brethren of the clergy, after having succeeded by means of their pet.i.tion to get the visits arranged according to their wish, usually apply for a.s.sistance, such as attendants, coolies, cayoppen, &c., as soon as the time for their visits arrive, that is to say, when it is their turn to go to such places as have the reputation of furnishing good mutton, fowls, b.u.t.ter, &c.; but when they have to visit the poorer districts, such as Patchelepalle, the boundaries of the Wanny, Trincomalee, and Batticaloa, they seldom give notice of the arrival of the time, and some even go to the length of refusing to go until they are commanded to depart. From this an idea may be formed of the nature of their love for the work of propagating religion. Some also take their wives with them on their visits of inspection to the churches and schools, which is certainly not right as regards the natives, because they have to bear the expense. With regard to the regulations concerning the churches and schools, I think these are so well known to Your Honours that it would be superfluous for me to quote any doc.u.ments here. I will therefore only recommend the strict observation of all these rules, and also of those made by His Excellency Mr. van Mydregt of November 29, 1690, and those of Mr. Blom of October 20, with regard to the visits of the clergy to the churches and the instructions for the Scholarchen in Ceylon generally by His Excellency the Governor and the Council of December 25, 1663, and approved by the Council of India with a few alterations in March, 1667.

The Consistory consists at present of the four ministers mentioned above, besides:--

Joan Roos, Elder.

Hendrik Warnar, Elder.

Joan Swinas, Deacon.

Jacob Jansz, Deacon.

Domenicus Hartkamp, Deacon.

Jan de Wit, Deacon.

To these is added as Commissaris Politicus, the Administrateur Abraham Michielsz Biermans, in compliance with the orders of December 27, 1643, issued by His late Excellency the Governor General Antony van Diemen and the Council of India at Batavia. Further information relating to the churches may be found in the resolutions of the Political Council and the College of the Scholarchen of Ceylon from March 13, 1668, to April 3 following. I think that in these doc.u.ments will be found all measures calculated to advance the prosperity of the church in Jaffnapatam, and to these may be added the instructions for the clergy pa.s.sed at the meeting of January 11, 1651.(38)

The churches and the buildings attached to the churches are in many places greatly decayed. I found to my regret that some churches look more like stables than buildings where the Word of G.o.d is to be propagated among the Mallabaars. It is evident that for some years very little has been done in regard to this matter, and as this is a work particularly within the province of the Dessave, I have no doubt that he will take the necessary measures to remedy the evil; so that the natives may not be led to think that even their rulers do not have much esteem for the True Religion. It would be well for the Dessave to go on circuit and himself inspect all the churches. Until he can do so he may be guided by the reports with regard to these buildings made by Lieutenant Claas Isaacsz on March 19 and April 4, 1696. He must also be aware that the schoolmasters and merinhos have neglected the gardens attached to the houses, which contain many fruit trees and formerly yielded very good fruit, especially grapes, which served for the refreshment of the clergymen and Scholarchen on their visits.(39)

The Civil Court or Land Raad has been inst.i.tuted on account of the large population, and because of the difficulty of settling their disagreements, which cannot always be done by the Commandeur or the Court of Justice, nor by the Dessave, because his jurisdiction is limited to the amount of 100 Pordaus. [45] The sessions held every Wednesday must not be omitted again, as happened during my absence in Colombo on account of the indisposition of the President. This Court consists at present of the following persons:--

Abraham Michielsz Biermans, Administrateur. President.

Jan Fransz, Vryburger, Vice-President.

Arnoud Mom, Ensign.

Jan Lodewyk Stumphuis, Paymaster.

Lucas de Lange, Vryburger.

Jan de Wit, Bookkeeper.

Louis Verwyk, Vryburger.

J. L. Stumphuis, mentioned above, Secretary.

The native members are Don Louis Poeder and Don Denis Nitsingeraye.

The instructions issued for the guidance of the Land Raad may be found with the doc.u.ments relating to this college of 1661, in which are also contained the various Ordinances relating to the official Secretaries in this Commandement, all which must be strictly observed. As there is no proper place for the a.s.sembly of the Land Raad nor for the meeting of the Scholarchen, and as both have been held so far in the front room of the house of the Dessave, where there is no privacy for either, it will be necessary to make proper provision for this. The best place would be in the town behind the orphanage, where the Company has a large plot of land and could acquire still more if a certain foul pool be filled up as ordered by His Excellency van Mydregt. A building ought to be put up about 80 or 84 feet by 30 feet, with a gallery in the centre of about 10 or 12 feet, so that two large rooms could be obtained, one on either side of the gallery, the one for the a.s.sembly of the Land Raad and the other for that of the Scholarchen. It would be best to have the whole of the ground raised about 5 or 6 feet to keep it as dry as possible during the rainy season, while at the entrance, in front of the gallery, a flight of stone steps would be required. In order, however, that it may not seem as if I am unaware of the order contained in the letter from Their Excellencies of November 23, 1695, where the erection of no public building is permitted without authority from Batavia, except at the private cost of the builder, I wish to state here particularly that I have merely stated the above by way of advice, and that Your Honours must wait for orders from Batavia for the erection of such a building. I imagine that Their Excellencies will give their consent when they consider that masonry work costs the Company but very little in Jaffnapatam, as may be seen in the expenditure on the fortifications, which was met entirely by the chicos or fines, imposed on those who failed to attend for the Oely service. Lime, stone, cooly labour, and timber are obtained free, except palmyra rafters, which, however, are not expensive. The chief cost consists in the wages for masonry work and the iron, so that in respect of building Jaffnapatam has an advantage over other places. Further instructions must however be awaited, as none of the Company's servants is authorized to dispense with them.(40)

The Weesmeesteren (guardians of the orphans) will find the regulations for their guidance in the Statutes of Batavia, which were published on July 1, 1642, [46] by His Excellency the Governor-General Antonis van Diemen and the Council of India by public placaat. This college consists at present of the following persons:--

Pieter Chr. Bolscho, President.

Lucas Langer, Vice-President.

Joan Roos, Onderkoopman.