8vo. 200x130 mm. 24 pages, numbered 697-720. At the end seal with Table of the Law printed in woodcut. Good condition.
The Ordinance highlights the great importance attributed to public education by the French Administration. Of notable importance is Titre IV, which concerns free schools:« Trois ecoles gratuites primaires sont entretenues a Pondichery aux frais du tresor coloniale : une pour les enfants des gens a chapeau ; une pour les Indiens chreteiens, musulmans et gentils, de tout age et de toute condition ; la derniere, pour les parias chretiens et indous. »
The 'topas', or "gens a chapeau", are the descendants of unions between Portuguese men and Indian women. They constitute a category distinct from that of mixed race in the French censuses of the late 18th century.
Ordinance published in the Bulletin des Lois N° 1051, pages 697-713.