CEYLON 3G5 Dutch lost no opportunity of improving that portion of the country which owned their supremacy, and of opening a trade with the interior. More tolerant and less ambitious of military renown than the Portuguese, they so far succeeded in their object as to render their commerce between this island and Holland a source of great profit. Many new branches of industry were developed. Public works were undertaken on a large scale, and education, if not universally placed within the reach of the inhabitants of the maritime provinces, was at least well cared for on a broad plan of Government supervision. That which they had so much improved by policy they were, however, unable to defend by force when the British turned their arms against them. A century and a half had wrought great changes in the physical and mental status of the Dutch colonists. The territory which in 1658 they had slowly gained by undaunted and obstinate bravery, they as rapidly lost in 1796 by imbecility and cowardice. The first intercourse of the English with Ceylon took place as far back as 1763, when an embassy was despatched from Madras to the king of Kandy, without, however, leading to any result. On the rupture between Great Britain and Holland in 1795, a force was sent against the Dutch possessions in Ceylon, where the opposition offered was so slight that by the following year the whole of their forts were in the hands of the English com mander. At first the island was placed under the care of the East India Company, but in 1802 the whole seaboard of Ceylon became, by the treaty of Amiens, a possession of the British Crown. The central tract of hilly country, hedged in by impenetrable forests and precipitous moun tain ranges, remained in possession of Wikrama Sinha, the last of the Malabar dynasty of kings, who showed no signs of encouraging communication with his European neighbours. Minor differences led in 1803 to an invasion of the Kandyan territory ; but sickness, desertion, and fatigue proved more formidable adversaries to the British forces than the troops of the Sinhalese monarch, and peace was eventually concluded upon terms by no means favourable to the English. The cruelty and oppression of the king now became so intolerable to his subjects that disaffection spread rapidly amongst them. Executions of the most horrible kinds were perpetrated. The utmost stretch of despotism failed to repress the popular indignation ; and in 1815 the British, at the urgent request of many of the Adigars and other native chiefs, proceeded against the tyrant, who was captured near Kandy, and subsequently ended his days in exile. With him ended a long line of sovereigns, whose pedigree may be traced through upwards of two thousand years. By a convention entered into with the Kandyan chiefs on the 2d of March 1815, the entire sovereignty of the island passed into the hands of the British, who in return guaranteed to the inhabitants civil and religious liberty. The religion of Buddha was declared inviolable, and its rights, ministers, and places of worship were to be main tained and protected ; the laws of the country were to be preserved and administered according to established fonns ; and the royal dues and revenues were to be levied as before for the support of Government. With the exception of a serious outbreak in some parts of the interior in 1817, which lasted for upwards of a year, and of two minor attempts at rebellion easily put down, in 1843 and 1848, the political atmosphere of Ceylon has remained undisturbed since the deportation of the last king of Kandy. Population. The total population of Ceylon, as ascer tained by the census of March 1871, is given as 2,406,262. Its distribution according to Provinces is as follows : Province. Population. Area. Population to squai e mile. Western 775,285 3,345 232 North- Western Southern 269,084 399,755 2,383 1,937 113 206 Eastern 113,290 3,516 32 Northern 281,788 3,139 89 Central 495,340 5,770 85 North-Central 70,720 4,384 16
Total
2,406,262
24,474.
98
The principal towns with these populations are
Colombo 95,843, Galle 47,059, and Jaffna 34,864.
The distribution according to race is as follows :
Sinhalese 1,670,207
Tamils 540,685
Arab descendants 163,516
Malays 7,952
Other Asiatics, Kafirs, &c 3,835
European descendants and half-castes. . . 1 4, 1 8.1
Europeans 5.8S6
Total 2,406,262
Government. Ceylon is a Crown colony, that is, a possession of
the British Crown acquired by conquest 01 cession, the affairs of
which are administered by a governor, who receives his appointment
from the Crown, generally for a term of six years. He is assisted
by an executive and a legislative council. The executive council
acts as the cabinet of the governor, and consists of the Queen s
advocate, the three principal officers of the colony (namely, the
colonial secretary, the treasurer, and the auditor-general), and the
general in command of the forces. The legislative council, in
addition to the members of the executive, includes the two
principal civil officers of the western and central provinces, the
surveyor-general, the collector of customs, and six unofficial
members nominated by the governor, who generally selects
three to represent the planting and mercantile community, and
three to represent the Sinhalese, Tamil, and Eurasian inhabitants ;
the governor presides and has a casting vote, if the numbers are
equal, in addition to his original vote. There are thus nine official
members and six unofficial. The powers of the governor constitute
a "paternal despotism," controlled only by the distant authority
of the Crown, as exercised through the secretary of state for the
colonies. The functions of his councils are consultative ; the adop
tion or rejection of their recommendations rests exclusively with
himself. The executive council is the body by whose advice all
Government measures are originally framed preparatory to their
submission to the legislative council, by whom they are finally
discussed with all the forms of parliamentary debate ; still the
paramount authority of the governor can overrule their delibera
tions, and their labours may be nullified by his withholding his
assent, which is necessary to give an enactment the force of law
pending its allowance or disallowance by the Crown. All legisla
tive enactments must be published in the local gazette for three
weeks before they can be finally adopted by the legislature. A
certain portion of the colonial expenditure is covered by permanent
ordinances, which provide for the fixed establishments of the colony,
the contribution towards the military defence of the colony, and
the payment of interest and sinking fund on account of loans. All
other expenditure has to be covered by an annual vote of the
legislative council. The administration is earned on by a civil
service, organized on the model of the great institution by which
our Indian empire has been formed. It is recruited by members
selected by competition from a limited number of candidates nomi
nated by the secretary of state and the governor of Ceylon. The
selected candidates are carefully trained in the colonial office at
Whitehall and in the public offices in Ceylon, and are also required
to pass an examination in the native languages before being em
ployed in any responsible office. For this highly-trained body the
more important civil appointments in Ceylon, including many of
the judicial appointments, are reserved. The old routine system
of rising by seniority was abolished by the order of the earl of
Derby in 1845, and merit instead of seniority is professedly now
the basis of promotion. The island is divided into seven provinces,
each having its chief and assistant agents, who carry on the affairs
of the province under the direct authority of ths Government
The agents of Government are the sole means of communication
