io6 TRAVELS IN 
portant, but the}'' are performed in that careless and slovenly 
manner which 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 I know of to this re- 
mark is the situation of an English justice of peace. In 
most public employments 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 settle- 
ments, split. The appointments of their servants were so 
small, that those who held them could not live without cheat- 
ing their employers ; and this was carried on to such an 
extent, as to become a common observation that, in propor- 
tion 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 into 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 prac- 
tised on the public ; no false weights nor measures used. 
They are authorized to regulate the prices of bread ; to in- 
quire from time to time into the state of the harvest ; and to 
take precautions against a scarcity of corn. They are to 
devise 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 
