trate as Mr. Ryneveld, the President of the Court of Justice, at their head, cannot fail to prove most acceptable to your Lordship and His Majesty's Government as I should hope. It contains a just representation of the real situation of this Colony, and points out to what extent the great improvements that have already taken place under the British Dominion may be carried by the same system of impartial justice and vigilant attention to the general interests of the community.

I should feel myself most unjust to the great merits of my predecessor, the Earl of Caledon, were I not to express that among the various excellent acts of his administration, the institution of the present Commission (who have just now finished their first Circuit) stands the most conspicuous; as I am confident the perseverance in this wise regulation will not only put an end to the improprieties which I fear have been imputed with too much justice to the inhabitants of those parts of the Settlement most distant from the seat of Government, but from the constant communication that must now prevail and the open view that will in future be exhibited of all the proceedings in those remote tracts, a new order of things will arise, and civilization be rapidly advanced in the extinction of all oppression, and those prejudices and ancient habits of the Boers that have hitherto been so adverse to the principles of society and good order.

The various suggestions of advantage to the interior of the Country submitted by the Commission appear to be so well considered, and so much calculated to establish all those patriotic principles upon which the British Government sets so high a value, that I may say I have adopted them all, and that as far as practicable most of them are in actual operation.

To ensure the course of the present justice and unbiassed impartiality it seemed altogether necessary to augment the salaries of the Landdrosts in the remote districts, not only to remove from them the temptations to which their narrow means might expose them, but also to enable them to devote their individual time to the duties of their important station. It appeared also requisite and indispensable to extend as far as it is possible under the limited resources of this Settlement the progress of religion and education by the establishment of more places of worship and schools. All these measures will occasion considerable expense, but your Lordship may be assured that every exertion will be

made, even in the attainment of such objects, to keep within the necessary bounds of moderation, and conform to the general instruction laid down by your Lordship.

While on this subject, I shall take the liberty to call your Lordship's peculiar attention to Simon's Town, the second town in this settlement, and one rising every day in population and wealth. It is also for six months in the year the station of the navy, and the rendezvous of all ships and strangers. At present there is no church there, either English or Dutch, and in such a state totally deprived of religious worship, or other spiritual attention, except from the occasional visits from the single Garrison Chaplain at the Cape. I may say it carries with it a severe reflection against our naval arrangements.

I understand it was Lord Caledon's intention to have created there, if it may be so termed, an English living and establishment, however giving to the Dutch inhabitants the same privileges of the building there as we enjoy by indulgence from their church at the Cape.

I beg to express my anxious wish to receive your Lordship's sentiments upon this consideration, as I think not only in the naval point of view it would be highly desirable to erect a moderate church in Simon's Town, circumstanced as that place is, but whenever in a delicate and unoffending manner the English sphere of action can be enlarged in this Colony, it cannot fail to prove of the greatest weight and make the best impression.

I had intended in the present communication to have laid before your Lordship the conclusion of the late warfare with the Kaffir Kraals upon the Frontier, and to detail how far they seem to have succeeded to the highest degree, without further violence or hostile exertions, but as Lt. Col. Arbuthnot, Deputy Quartermaster General, upon whose judgment and information I place great reliance, and who has been all the time with Col. Graham, only arrived the day before yesterday, I forbear till my next dispatch to submit all the final measures that have been adjusted for the ultimate security of the Frontier and the permanent foundation of good order.

Your Lordship, I anxiously hope, will coincide with my humble opinion, that the late Commission from the Court of Justice have most zealously and ably executed the novel duties imposed upon them. Indeed it could not be otherwise under the direction of

VIII.

2 D

such an enlightened and excellent Magistrate as Mr. Ryneveld, whose loyalty and attachment to the British Government cannot be exceeded by any servant His Majesty may possess. The assistance he has invariably afforded to myself and all my predecessors I believe will be equally acknowledged in the warmest terms of gratitude and respect.

It were injustice not to express myself in the same manner of Mr. Truter, His Majesty's Fiscal, whose unwearied diligence and activity in the discharge of a most arduous employment in this populous Town, to the equal satisfaction of the Dutch and English inhabitants, cannot be surpassed, and where legal advice and the most patriotic and disinterested opinions are required, Mr. Truter never fails to give an assistance that may be relied upon for judicial ability and correctness.

I should esteem myself most happy if at any future time I may be made the medium of some mark of consideration from His Majesty to these most respectable gentlemen and highly meritorious subjects. I have &c.

Letter from SIR JOHN CRADOCK to the EARL OF
LIVERPOOL.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CAPE TOWN, May 21st 1812.

MY LORD, I have the honor to forward to your Lordship a Memorial lately received from Mr. Alexander Tennant, a very respectable Merchant in this Colony. Mr. Tennant also recommends Himself to publick Esteem, by the Character of general Utility and active Zeal in various Improvements.

From all that I can learn, his Case is well entitled to Consideration, and if Compliance with the Prayer of his Memorial were to follow the general Sentiments Here of Persons supposed to know the Truth of his operations, I am to express, they are altogether in his Favor. I have etc.

[Enclosure 1 in the above.]

To HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT GENERAL SIR JOHN FRANCIS CRADOCK, Governor and Commander in Chief, Knight of the Bath and Crescent, &c., &c., &c.

The Memorial of Alexander Tennant

Humbly Sheweth,

That your Memorialist relieved and returned to their Native Country, a number of British Officers and Seamen, as will appear by the annexed papers, which will also shew the various unsuccessful applications that have been made by him to be reimbursed the monies laid out by him for that purpose. Of these applications your Memorialist will now only allude to the last through Commissioner Shield, the Representative of the Honorable the Commissioners of His Majesty's Transport Board in this colony.

That officer on the perusal of your Memorialist's papers and vouchers, with his usual accuracy and vigilance in the execution of his duty, before he would write to, or transmit your memorialist's case to the Honorable Board, took the trouble to enquire of W. S. Ryneveld Esqr. (then His Majesty's Fiscal) now President of the worshipful Court of Justice, and J. A. Truter Esq. now His Majesty's Fiscal, who were both upon the spot when the transaction took place, regarding the whole and particularly the price of provisions at the time, and the respectability of the Merchants who signed your Memorialist's vouchers, then, and not until he had taken these precautions, he was pleased to write the annexed letter wherein he has quoted an act of Parliament in justification of what your Memorialist had done, and which your Memorialist was perfectly ignorant of at the time he performed the deed.

The Memorial through Commissioner Shield together with his Letter and all the annexed papers have been transmitted by him to the Honorable the Commissioners of his Majesty's Transport Board, two and a half years ago, to which he has never received

an answer.

Your Memorialist need not dwell on the injury he has sustained by the long protracted payment of such a large sum independent of the interest thereon, your Excellency being perfectly aware of that, from proceedings lately held before your Excellency in the honorable the Court of Appeals.

Your Memorialist therefore most humbly begs that your Excellency will be pleased to take his distressed situation into your Excellency's consideration, and take such measures as your Excellency in your wisdom may deem meet for the recovery and restoration of this property.

And your Memorialist as in duty bound will ever pray, &c. ALEX. TENNANT.

(Signed)

[Enclosure 2 in the above.]

To the RIGHT HONORABLE DUPRE EARL OF CALEDON, VISCOUNT ALEXANDER AND BARON CALEDON of Caledon, Governor and Commander in Chief, &c., &c.

The memorial of Alexander Tennant

Humbly Sheweth,

That your Memorialist has resided in this colony since the year 1796, that he was born a British subject, and never alienated himself or sought the citizenship of any other nation.

That in the month of June 1805 the French privateer Napoleon brought into this port the Honorable East India Company's extra ship the Experiment, and that he applied to the Dutch Government for leave to send the prisoners to the Island of St. Helena, at his own private expence, to be exchanged for French prisoners, according to their respective ranks.

Your Memorialist cannot help remarking that he effected this exchange when all the efforts of Government at home and in India with the Isle of France had proved ineffectual, and he is happy in thus having been the instrument of delivering a number of his fellow subjects out of an enemy's gaol, and restoring them to the service of their country, and this sensation is encreased by his believing that this instance promoted the relief of those prisoners who were afterwards exchanged in India.

Your Memorialist accompanied the prisoners of the Experiment to St. Helena, and he encloses for your perusal his correspondence with the governor of that island, and also with the Transport Board.

Unfortunately for him, His Majesty's Ship Calcutta gloriously sacrificed herself for the protection of the convoy under the com