superior to him in rank. In this manner there is
an impolitic union of the executive, legislative, and
judicial functions; and the independence and dignity
of the judicial character are necessarily impaired
or degraded by placing the only lawyer, and
only efficient judge of the court, in an inferior and
dependent situation. By the modification of this
court, which extends its jurisdiction to Singapore
and Malacca, the court can only exist where the
Governor, the keeper of the seal, is actually present,
and of course no process can be issued. For
two-thirds of the year, therefore, every settlement,
in its turn, must be deprived of the administration
of justice, excepting as far as regards the petty
suits already mentioned. This is a state of things
wholly unsuited to any condition of society, and,
above all, to a place where a busy commercial intercourse
is conducted; and, unless the error be
speedily repaired, it must give rise to inconvenience
seriously detrimental to the prosperity of the
place.
In 1825, the Civil Establishment consisted of
the Resident and his assistants, already mentioned,
besides constables, &c. The annual charge of this
branch amounted to about fifty thousand Spanish
dollars. The Military amounted only to about a
hundred and fifty Sepoys, and native artillery,
without a single European, except the officers. In
a period of peace, and among an industrious population,
in which the elements of anarchy, discon-
Cent, or insurrection, had no existence, this small
force was quite adequate to every useful purpose.
In proof of the good disposition of the inhabitants,
I may quote one example. In 1825,, the
assassinations which had taken place among the
Malays, the only armed class of the inhabitants,
made it necessary, as a measure of prudence, to
disarm them. 1 his would have been an easy measure,
but for the presence of the native chiefs,
whose retainers encouraged their countrymen to
resist. This threatened resistance coming to the
knowledge of the Chinese, the most respectable
of them waited upon me, to say, that they were
ready to assist the authorities in carrying the
measure of disarming the Malays into effect. Neither
their assistance, however, nor that of the military,
was necessary ; for, in the sequel, the Malays
quietly and peaceably acquiesced. The expense
of the military garrison amounted to less
than thirty-five thousand Spanish dollars a-year.
To these disbursements is to be added a sum of
twenty-four thousand Spanish dollars, paid as
yearly stipends to the native princes, from whom
we obtained the sovereignty of the island. This
sum was only an annuity for life; and, by the
death of one of the parties, was considerably reduced
within the first year. The total ordinary
disbursements of the island were, according to this
statement, a hundred and nine thousand Spanish
dollars. The extraordinary expenses for local con