JBir Geographical Collections. 



ment to make immediately on its introduction, since afforded that government an 

 opportunity of carrying into effect, in the judicial department of the island, a plan 

 for a permanent saving of ten thousand pounds a year. No man, whose charac- 

 ter for honesty or veracity is impeaclied, can be enrolled on the list of jurymen ; 

 the circumstance of a man's name being upon the jury roll, is a proof of his be- 

 ing a man of unexceptionable character, and is that to which he appeals in case 

 his character be attacked in a court of justice, or in case he solicits his govern- 

 ment for promotion in their service. As the rolls of jurymen are revised by the 

 supreme court at every session, they operate as a most powerful engine in making 

 the people of the country more attentive than they used to be in their adherence 

 to truth. The right of sitting upon juries has given the natives of Ceylon a va- 

 lue for character which they never felt before, and has raised, in a very remark- 

 able manner, the standard of their moral feelings. All the natives of Ceylon, 

 who are enrolled as jurymen, conceive themselves to be as much a part as the 

 European judges themselves are, of the government of their country ; and there- 

 fore feel, since they have possessed the right of sitting upon juries, an interest 

 which they never felt before in upholding the British government of Ceylon. 

 The beneficial consequence of this feeling is strongly exemplified in the diflTerence 

 between the conduct which the native inhabitants of the British settlements on 

 Ceylon observed in the Kandian war of 1803, and that which they observed in 

 the Kandian war of 1816. In the war between the British and Kandian govern- 

 ment in 1803, which was before the introduction of trial by jury, the native in- 

 habitants of the British settlements were, for the most part, in a state of rebel- 

 lion ; in the war between the same governments in 1816, which was five years 

 after the introduction of trial by jury, the native inhabitants of the British settle- 

 ments, so far from showing the smallest symptom of dissatisfaction, took, during 

 the very heat of the war, the opportunity of my return to England, to express 

 their gratitude through me to the British government, for the valuable right of 

 sitting upon juries, which had been conferred upon them by his present Majesty. 



" The difference between the conduct which was observed by all the proprie- 

 tors of slaves on Ceylon in 1 806, which was before the introduction of trial by 

 jury, and that which was observed by them in 1816, which was five years after 

 the introduction of the trial by jury, is a strong proof of the change which may 

 be brought about in public opinion, by the judges availing themselves of the op- 

 portunity which their charging the jury on the first day of session affords them, 

 of circulating among the natives of the country such opinions as may promote the 

 welfare of any particular class of society. As the right of every proprietor of 

 slaves, to continue to hold slaves on Ceylon, was guaranteed to him by the capi- 

 tulation under which the Dutch possessions had been surrendered to the British 

 arms in 1795, the British government of Ceylon conceived that, however desir- 

 able the measure might be, they had not a right to abolish slavery on Ceylon by 

 any legislative act. A proposition was, however, made on the part of govern- 

 ment by me to the proprietors of slaves in 1806, before trial by jury was intro- 

 duced, urging them to adopt some plan of their own accord for the gradual abo- 

 lition of slavery : this proposition they at that time unanimously rejected. The 

 right of sitting upon juries was granted to the inhabitants of Ceylon in 1811. 

 From that period I availed myself of the opportunities which were afforded to me 

 when I delivered my charge, at the commencement of each session, to the jury- 

 men, most of whom were considerable proprietors of slaves, of informing them 

 of what was doing in England upon the subject of the abolition of slavery, and 

 of pointing out to them the difficulties which they themselves must frequently 

 experience, in executing with impartiality their duties as jurymen, in all cases in 

 which slaves were concerned. A change of opinion upon the subject of slavery 

 was gradually perceptible amongst them ; and in the year 1816, the proprietors 

 of slaves of all castes and religious persuasions in Ceylon, sent me their unani- 

 mous resolutions, to be publicly recorded in court, declaring free all children bom 



