That such have occurred on Java, even during the British administration, is true, but not among the Javans: they have happened exclusively in the large towns of Batavia, _Semárang_, and _Surabáya_, and have been confined almost entirely to the class of slaves. This phrenzy, as a crime against society, seems, if not to have originated under the Dutch, certainly at least to have been increased during their administration, by the great severity of their punishments. For the slightest fault, a slave was punished with a severity which he dreaded as much as death; and with torture in all its horrid forms before his eyes, he often preferred to rush on death and vengeance. Atrocious crimes are extremely rare, and have been principally owing to misgovernment when they have occurred. In answer to what has been asserted concerning robberies, assassinations, and thefts, it may be stated, that during the residence of the English, an entire confidence was reposed in the people, and that confidence was never found misplaced. The English never used bars or bolts to their houses, never travelled with arms, and no instance occurred of their being ill used. The Dutch, on the contrary, placed no confidence: all their windows were barred, and all their doors locked, to keep out the treacherous natives (as they called them), and they never moved five miles abroad without pistols and swords. What could be expected by a government that derived a principal part of its revenue by the encouragement of vice, by the farms of gaming, cock-fighting, and opium shops? After the two former were abolished by the English, and the local government had done all in its power to discourage the latter, a visible amelioration took place in the morals of the lower ranks. Hordes of banditti, formidable for their numbers and audacity, formerly infested some parts of the country, particularly the provinces of Bantam and Chéribon; but since they have been dispersed by the strong hand of government, the roads of Java may be travelled in as much security as those of England.