of the Cape of Good Hope. 163 



lime give security thatsuch slave shall not become burthen- 

 some to the church for a certain number of years. 



The police of the town is committed to the management 

 of a board consisting of six burghers, called the burgher 

 senate. The functions of this board are various and im- 

 portant; but they are performed in that careless and slovenly 

 manner u hich is ever the case where men are compelled to 

 accept an office to which there is annexed neither pay nor 

 emolument. The only exception that 1 know of is m the 

 situation of an English justice of peace. In every public 

 emplovment of a permanent nature, like that of the burgher 

 senate, if the emoluments are not such as to make it worth 

 a man's while to keep his place, the odds are great that the ' 

 duties of it will be neglected. This was the rock upon 

 which the Dutch, in all their East India settlements, split. 

 The appointments of their servants were so small, that those 

 who held them could not live without cheating their em- 

 ployers ; and this was carried on to such an extent, as to 

 become a common observation, that in proportion as the 

 Company's finances were impoverished, their servants were 

 enriched. 



The business of the burgher senate consists in seeing that 

 the streets be kept clean and in proper repair; that no nui- 

 sance be thrown mto the public avenues leading to the town; 

 that no encroachments be made on public property; that no 

 disorderly houses be suffered to remain; no impositions 

 practised on the public ; no false weights nor measures used. 

 Thev are authorized to regulate the prices of bread ; to en- 

 quire from time to time into the state of the harvest; and to 

 take precautions against a scarcity of corn. They are to de- 

 vise measures and suggest plans to government that may 

 seem proper and effective for keeping up a constant succes- 

 sion of coppice wood for fuel in the Cape district. They 

 are directed to take particular care that the tradesmen of the 

 town, and more especially the smiths and cartwrights, im- 

 pose not on the country boors in the prices of utensils ne- 

 ccssarv for carrying on the business of agriculture, 'i'hey 

 are to report such crimes, trespasses, and misdemeanors, as 

 come within their knowledge, to the Fiscal, who is the 

 chief magistrate of the police, and attorney -general of the 

 colony. 



It would l)e in vain to expect that such various and im- 

 portant duties should be faitiifully fultilled for a number of 

 years without any consideration of profit or hope of reward; 

 <-)r that every advantage would not be taken whicli the situa- 

 tion might offer. Some of the members of the burgher se- 

 M 4 uaic 



