It is not surprising to find, that the enlightened views of this writer were never acted upon, when we find it asserted by a commission, who sat at the Hague in 1803, composed of the highest, and perhaps best qualified persons in the state of Holland, and of which he was himself a member (of course a dissenting one), that "it appeared to them to have been admitted generally, and without contradiction, that according to ancient regulations, of which the first institution was lost even among the Javans themselves, the manner in which that people are used to live rests on principles, with which a free and unlimited disposition of the ground and its productions is absolutely inconsistent; that they were, for their parts, convinced that such a change could not be effected, without causing a general fermentation among all classes of people; that though, in this case, violent measures might suppress an insurrection, they would rather advise to bid an eternal farewell to Java, than to resort to such means; that if they adverted to the question in a commercial point of view, the same uncertainty, the same dangers presented themselves. These arose from the natural disinclination of the Javan to work, which has been observed by many eminent persons; the danger of new monopolies, which would fall heavier upon the common people than the present forced deliveries; the exorbitant charges to support a great number of native chiefs and priests, who are at present provided for and ought to be supported; an undoubted deficiency in the revenues, and a considerable expenditure during the first years, without the probability of a remedy. All this," say they, "seems to forebode a neglect of the cultivation; and after long and laborious researches, we are compelled to lay it down as a general principle, that property, of the soil among the common Javans, and the abolition of public services, cannot be adopted as the basis of an improvement, of which the internal management of Java would be susceptible. The contingents and forced deliveries ought therefore to be continued and received on account of the state, which has succeeded to the prerogatives of the former Company[9]."