f their forts were in the hands of the
English commander.

The abiding results of the occupation of Ceylon by the Portuguese and
Dutch is described by Sir Emerson Tennent (_Ceylon_) as follows:

"The dominion of the Netherlands in Ceylon was nearly equal in
duration with that of Portugal, about 140 years; but the policies of
the two countries have left a very different impress on the character
and institutions of the people amongst whom they lived. The most
important bequest left by the utilitarian genius of Holland is the
code of Roman Dutch law, which still prevails in the supreme courts of
justice, whilst the fanatical propagandism of the Portuguese has
reared for itself a monument in the abiding and expanding influence of
the Roman Catholic faith. This flourishes in every hamlet and province
where it was implanted by the Franciscans, whilst the doctrines of the
reformed church of Holland, never preached beyond the walls of the
fortresses, are already almost forgotten throughout the island, with
the exception of an expiring community at Colombo. Already the
language of the Dutch, which they sought to extend by penal
enactments, has ceased to be spoken even by their direct descendants,
whilst a corrupted Portuguese is to the present day the vernacular of
the lower classes in every town of importance. As the practical and
sordid government of the Netherlands only recognized the interest of
the native population in so far as they were essential to uphold their
trading monopolies, their memory was recalled by no agreeable
associations: whilst the Portuguese, who, in spite of their cruelties,
were identified with the people by the bond of a common faith, excited
a feeling of admiration by the boldness of their conflicts with the
Kandyans, and the chivalrous though ineffectual defence of their
beleaguered fortresses. The Dutch and their proceedings have almost
ceased to be remembered by the lowland Sinhalese; but the chiefs of
the south and west perpetuate with pride the honorific title Don,
accorded to them by their first European conquerors, and still prefix
to their ancient patronymics the sonorous Christian names of the
Portuguese."

The British forces by which the island had been conquered were those of
the East India Company, and Ceylon was therefore at first placed under
its jurisdiction and administered from Madras. The introduction of the
Madras revenu