[3] Van Rhede van der Kloot, De Gouverneurs-Generaal en Commissarissen-Generaal van Nederlandsch-Indië, 1610–1888.
Memoir
For the Instruction of the Honourable the Political Council of Jaffnapatam, compiled and left by Commandeur Hendrick Zwaardecroon on his departure from that kingdom as Commissioner for the Coast of Mallabaar, Cannara, and Wingirula.
It has pleased His Excellency Mr. Willem van Outhoorn, Governor-General, and the Honourable the Government of India, to appoint me Commissioner for the Coast of Mallabaar, and to require me to compile before my departure from here a Memoir or Instructions for the guidance of the Council, stating therein how the affairs of the Company are to be conducted during my absence, which Memoir is to be handed to the said Council after having been submitted to His Excellency the Governor of Ceylon and the Council of Colombo for revision, amplification, and alteration where necessary, as may be seen from the letter of May 23 last, from Their Excellencies at Batavia, sent here by the ship “De stad Leyden.”
In compliance with this esteemed order I compile this Paper, although I am aware that you are all persons who have served the Company for a greater or smaller number of years, and that you must have had ample opportunity to obtain a knowledge of all matters concerning the Company.
Moreover, during the last 38 years which the Company has been in the absolute possession of this territory, many papers have been written with regard to Jaffnapatam which are always accessible to the members of the Political Council at the Secretariate, so that I take it for granted that, in addition to your daily experience, you have obtained a sufficient knowledge of these matters from these documents; because among these are to be found descriptions of whatever is necessary to give the reader a clear idea of all that is required in the Company’s service, and they having been written by wise and circumspect men, some more and others less in detail. I am, therefore, sure that everything that is necessary will be found if carefully looked for.
I will not, for this reason, enter into detail in respect of the manner the Company took possession of this territory, or of the advantages that may be found here both for the inhabitants and for the Company; nor what compulsory services are demanded from the subjects in Jaffnapatam, and the number of castes into which they are divided and under which they are registered; nor will I specify here the licenses for navigation and trade which have been given to them, nor the changes which have taken place in the course of time with regard to these and many other matters not stated here.
Because, if I were to relate all these matters from the very beginning, I would have to write several volumes instead of a few sheets of paper. And this I do not intend to do, as I wish to be as brief as possible.
Moreover, sufficient information may be found in the documents preserved at the Secretariate, which it would be well if Your Honours would make yourselves familiar with. We must be always prepared to take upon ourselves higher and more difficult posts whenever called upon, and in so preparing ourselves we avoid confusion, and the Company would never be in want of capable servants.