Max-Havelaar-Multatuli

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PREFACE.MAX HAVELAARas published a few years ago, and

caused such a sensation in Holland aa was never beforeexperienced in that country. The a uthor wrote i t underth e pseudonym of Mu ltatuli, but h k real name, EduardDouwes Dekk er, formerly As sistant Resident of th e D utc hGovernment in Java, a t once became kn ow n Fu ll offire, and overflowing with enthusiasm, th e autho r pre-aented it to his co untrymen in th e form of a novel,- abook wherein he mad e the m acquainted with th e incredibleextortions and tyranny of which the nativw of the D utchIndies, "t ha t m a g d c e n t empire of Insul ind, which windsabout the equator like a garland of emeralds," are th evictims, an d how he tried in vain, while still in the serviceof the Government, to pu t a n end to th e cruel oppressionsth at happe n every day i n those countries. Though someconsidered his book to be merely an interesting and cap;

b


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PREFACE. vii

slaves in America, is nothing in comparison to what h a ppens every day in the Dutch Indies.

"Max Havelaar" is the name under which the authorchooses to describe his experiences in the E t ; n the firstchapters of the book he has just returned from India, andhe meets an old school-companion, at that time a coffee-broker, aW. rystubble. This Mr. Drystubble is very rich,and the author being just then very poor, the latter asks hisold school-fellow to be security for the publishing of hisbook. At first Mr. Drystubble will not hear of this, butafterwards, when he perceives that it will be of someadvantage to himself, he consents. Drystubble is a very'characteristic person, knowing nothing beyond his trade,a great egotist, and is represented by the author with truewit and humour, in order to show the extreme contrastbetween himself and . . . . some of his countrymen, whomhe may perhaps have met with since his return fromJava At that time the author wears a plaid or shawl,and Mr. Drystubble therefore speaks always of him asMr. Shawlman. A few months after the publication ofM i avelaar, one of the most eminent members of theDutch Parliament avowed that this book had struck thewhole country with horror. I n vain the Dutch tried to


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viii PREFACE.make a pa rty question of it. The author opeuly de-clared that he belonged neither to the Liberal nor tothe Conservative party ; bu t th at he placed himself underthe banner of RIGHT, EQUITY, and HUMANITY. Soon,however, as he professed to be a mere friend of man-kind, without bias to m y political party, th e officialworld avoided even to pronounce his name, and affectedto have forgotten the man whose conduct had beforebeen considered as a reproof, and whose influence men-aced danger to people i n place. Ins tead of acceptingthe challenge, it seemed more worthy to fight the battleou t with the vile weapons of abuse and slander. Ofcourse th e reader will not regard M r. Drystubble's non-sensical and hypocritical observations as th e sentiments ofour author. I t is precisely Multatuli's inten tion to makeDrystubble odious, and his philosophy absurd, thoughsometimes he speaks tr u th an d common-sense-for he isa type of a part of the Dutch nation.

So much for th e tendency of the bo ok Need I say thati t will do honour to th e literature of an y language, andtha t it may be read as well for profit as for amusement?Rut Max Bavelaur is immortal, not because of Literaryar t or talent, bu t because of t he cause he advocates. Ithin k th at every one who adm ires Harriet Beecher Stowe's


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PREFACE. iximmorld pleading, ought likewise to read Mdtatnli'saccusation. I compare Max Havdaur to Uwle Tmn'sCabin, but I do not compare Multatuli, the championand the martyr of humanity and justice, to Mra. Stowe,for I am not aware that that lady, with all her merits,has sacrificed future fortune, and all that makes life agree-able, for a principle-for right and equity-as has beendone by Eduard Douwes Dekker. Max Havelam bearsevidence of having been written by a genius of that orderwhich only appears at long intervals in the world's history.Hi mind embraces in its intellectual compass a l l man-kind, regardless of race or caste. By the diffusion ofthis book a bond will be formed embracing all lovers ofgenius and justice throughout the worldIt was the intention of the author to have had hie work

translated into dl the European languages. Unfortunatelyhe unwittingly disposed of the property of his own book,and if it had not thus been "legally" withheld fmm thepeople of Holland, i t is probable that I should not havebeen its translator ; but I have been constrained to makeknown as widely as possible the sad truth regarding themal-administration of laws in themselves good, by theDutch Government in her Indian dependencies. To theBritish nation the facts will be new, as the books pub-


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X PREFACE.

lished in England on Dutch India are few in number,'superficial in character, and give no idea of the condi-tion of the native population. I cannot judge of Englishpolitics or about British India, but however perfect Bri-tish rule may be, it cannot be so perfect that it hasnothing more to learn.

A L P H O NS E JO H A N B E R N A R D H O R S T X A R N A H U Y S .

HAouE,Januay 17, 1868.


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" J'ai muvent entendu plaindre lea femmea de F t e , et ~ n route,pour tmir dlgnement d m a vie ca difficile emploi, aucune qu&Un'est de trop. Le plm rare ensemble de m&itea n'eat que le strictn8cessaire, et ne suftit mhme paa toujours an commun bouheur.Voir sans cesse la mute en tiem dam vos plnn familiere entretiens,-recueillii dam ses braa et soigner ce po8t.e qtli est votre msri,quand il voos revient meurtri par les d6ceptions de as %he ;41 ibien le voir n'envoler B la poursuite de ss chimkre . . . voilll l'ordi-naire de I'existence pour m e emme de @te. Oui, main a m i ily a le chapttre dea compeneations, l'heure dea lauriem qu'il a gagnBsB La sueur de son gdnic, et qu'il depose pie-ment sux pie& defemme Iegitimement aimde, nux genonx de 1'Antigone qui sert deguide en ca monde B cet 'nveugle errant ; -

I' Car, ne vow-y-trompez-pss: preaque toas lea petit-@ d'Hombreeont plus on moins aveuglea B leur f q n -ila voient ce que nousne voyons p ; eurs regarda @n&trent plus haut e t plw au fondque lea u 8 h ; mais ila ne ssvent pes voir droit devant eux leurpetit bonhomme de chemin, et il d e n t capablea de tdbucher e tde ee ceseer le nez sur le moindre caillou, s'il lenr fallait cheminere ~ soutieq dam cea vallke de prose oh demeure la vie."

(&BY DE PBNL)


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O F ~ C E B My Lord, hin in the man who murdered Betry.Jrrwa. He muat hang for it. How did he do i t ?orrrcmx. Be cut up her body in litt le pie-, and d t e d them.J n w r He in a great criminal. He must hang for it.-10 My Lord, did not murder Betsy : I fed and clothed

and cherished her. I can call witnecrees who will prove me to be a goodman, and no murderer.m a You muat hang. You blacken your crime by your aelf-

snfficiency. It ill becomes one who . . . . is accused of anything toaet up for a good man.

UYPHABIO.. But, my Lord, . . . . here are witn- to prove it ;and se I am now accused of murder . . . .

~ u w a ou must hang for it. You cut up Betsy-you saltedthe l~ieces--rmd you are mtisficd with your conduct,-three capitalcounts----who are you, my good woman ?

w o w . I am Betsy.LcvmraRro. Thank God 1 You nee, my Lord, that I did not

murder her.m ~ .umph !-ay-what !-What about the salting ?s m . No, my Lord, he did not d t me :---on the contrary,

he did many things for me . . . . he in a worthy man 1-RIO. YOU ear, my Lord, ahe mys I am an honest man. Lj n w ~ umph 1-the third count remaina Wcer, remove the

prisoner, he must hang for it ; he in guilty of self-conceitI

(UnpublisliedPloy.)


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C H A P T E R I.I ~ a r coffee-broker, and liv e a t No. 37 Laurier Canal,

Amsterdam. I am not accustomed to writo novels orworks of tha t ki n d ; therefore it took me a long time be-fore I could resolve to order a few ex tra quires of pape rand begn this book, which you, dear reader, have justtake n in hand, and which you m ust finish, whether youare a coffee-broker or any thi ng else. Not only th at Inever wrote any thing tha t resembled a novel, b ut I evendo not l ike to read such things, because I am a man ofbusiness. Fo r m any years I have asked myself whatis th e use of such works, and I am astonished at theimpudence with which many a poet or novelist dares totell you storiea which never happened, aud often nevercould have happened at all. If I in my position,-I ama coffee-broker, and live at No. 37 Laurier Canal,-ma de a statem ent to a Principal, th at is, a p en on whosells coffee, in which I related only a small part of thelies which form th e greater pa rt of poems an d nov eh, heIM A


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2 M A X HAVELAAR.would immediately cease to en~ployme, and go over toBusselinck and Waterm an, who are likewise coffee-brokers,-but you need no t know thei r address. Therefore I takegood care not to write any noveln, nor to advance anyfalse statements. I have always remarked that personswho do so are often badly off. I am forty-three yearsof age, I have visited th e Exchange for th e last twe ntyyears, and, therefore, 1 can come forward whenever youare in want of a person of experience. How many firmsdo I know which have been u tterly ruined ! And gene-rally, when looking for the causes of thei r failure, it ap-peared Lo me th at they mu st be attributed to th e wrongdirection which most of them followed in th e beginning.

My maxims are, an d will always be, Truth and Com-mon-sense; m aking, of course, a n exception wi th regardto th e Holy Scriptures. The origin of th is fault may betraced to our children's poet, Van Alphen,' in his veryfirst line, about " dear little babies." W ha t t he deucecould m ake th a t old gentleman declare himself to be anadorer of my little sister Gertrude, who had weak eyea,or of my brother Gerard, who always played with hisnose ? and yet, he says, " hat he sang those poems in-pi red by lova" I often thought when a child, " My dearfellow, I should like to meet you once, and if you refusedme the marbles which I should ask you for, or the

Hieronylnus Van Alphen, anthor of Litlle P o e m for Children, etc.,WRE born in 1746, died ill 1803.


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MAX HAVELAAR. 3

initials of my name in chocolate-- my name is Batavus-then I should believe you to he a liar." But I neversaw Van Alphen; he waa dead, I think, when he toldus that my father was my best friend, and that my littledog waa so grateful (we never kept any dogs, they areso very dirty) ; although I was much fonder of littlePaul Winser, who lived near us in Batavier Street.

All lies ! And yet in this manner education goes on :- The new little sister came from the vegetable-womanin a big cabbage." "AllDutchmen are brave and gener-ous." "The Romans were glad that the Batavians allowedthem to live." "The Bey of Tunis got a colic when heheard the Dutch colours flapping." " The Duke of Alvawas a monster." " The ebb-tide (in 1672, I believe)lasted a little longer than usual, only to protect theNetherlands." Nonsense ! Holland has remained Hol-land because our forefathers knew how to manage theiraffairs, and because they had the true religion-that isthe resson. And then came other lies. "A girl is anangel" Whoever first discovered that never had anysiaters. Love is a bliss ; you fly with some dear objector other to the end of the earth. The earth has no end,and such love is all nonsense. Nobody can say thatI do not live on good terms with my wife,-she isa daughter of h t nd Co., coffee-brokers,-nobody canfind fault with our marriage. I am a member of the

8ee the Hietory of H o h d .


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fashionaljle " Artis " club,' and she has an In dianshaw l which cost 7, 13s. 4d., bu t ye t we never in-dulged in such a foolish love as would have urged us tofly to th e extremities of th e earth. W hen we married,we made an excursion to th e Hague. She there boughtsome flannel, of which I stil l wear shirts; and furtherour love has never driv en us. So, I say, it is allnonsense and lies ! And should my marriage now beless happy than that of those persons who out of purelove become consumptive, or tear the hair out of theirhe ad s? Or do you thin k tha t my household is lessorderly than it would be, if seventeen years ago I hadpromised my brido in verse that I should marry her?Stuff an d nonsense ! yet I could have done such a thingns well as any one else; for the making of verses is aprofession certainly less d i5 c u lt tha n ivory-turning, otherwise how could bon-bons w ith mottoea be so cheap?Only compare their price with that of two billiard-balls.I have no objection to verses. If you like to put thewords into a line, very w ell; b ut do n ot say an ythingbeyond th e truth ; hus,-

" The clock strikes fourAnd it rains no more."

I will not say any thing against that, if it is indeed fourA club at the Zoological Gardew, whose motto is " Artis Naturam;rgistm."


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o'clock, and it has really stopped raining. But if it is aquarter to three, then I, who do not p ut my words inverse, can say, " I t i s a quarter to three, and i t has stoppedraining." Bu t th e rhymer, because it rains " no more," isbound to say "ffour." Either the time or tlie weathermust be changed, arid a lie is the result. And i t i s notrhyming alone th at allures young people to un tru th. Goto the theatre, and listen to a11 the liw they tell you.The hero of th e piece is saved from being drowned by aperson who i s on th e poin t of becoming a bankrup t.Then, as we arc told, he ~ v e s is preserver half hisfortune,-a statem ent th a t canno t be true, as I proceedto show. W hen lately my ha t was blown by the windinto the Prinsen Canal, I gave the man twopence whobrought i t back to me, and he was satisfied. I know verywell that I ought to have given a lit tle m ore if h e hadsaved my own self from drowning, but certainly not halfmy fortune; for i t is evident th at in such a case, fallingtwice into th e water would quite ruin me. The worst ofthese scenes on th e stage is, th at people become so mu chaccustonied to untruths, that they get into the habit ofadmiring and applauding them. I should like to throw allsuch applauders into th e water, to see how ma ny of themreally 111eant th a t applause. I , who love tru th , hereby givenotice, th at I won't pay half my fortune for being fishedup. He who is not satisfied with less, need not touch me.o n Sundays only I should give a little more, on account


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6 MAX HAVELAAR.of my gold chain and best coat. Yea ! many yerso~lsbecome corrupted by the stage, much more than bynovels, for seeing is believing. With tinsel and lace cutout in paper, all looks so very attractive, that is to say,for children and men who are not accustomed to buei-new. And even when they want to represent poverty,their representatiou ia generally a lie. A girl whosefather has become a bankrupt, works to support herfamily. Very well; yon see her on the stage, sewing,knitting, or embroidering. Now,, do count the stitcheswhich she makes during a whole act. She talks, shesighs, she runs to the window, she does everythingexcept work. Surely the family that can live by suchwork needs very little. This girl is, of course, the heroine.She h ~ s ushed mme seducers down-stairs, and criescontinnally, "Oh, mother, mother !" and thus she repre-sents Virtue. A nice virtue indeed, which takea a ywrin making a pair of stockings ! Does not all this serveto give you false idea of virtue, and of " abour for dailybread l" All folly and lies! Then her first lover, whowas formerly a copying-clerk, but is now immensely rich,returns suddenly, and marries her. Lies again. He whohas money does not marry a bankrupt's daughter. Youthink that such a ecene will do on the stage, as an excep-tional case, but the audience will mistake the exceptionfor the rule, and thus become demoralized by accustomingthemselves to applaud on the s e e , t,hrzt which in the


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MA X HAVELMR. ,Iw l d every respectable broker or merchant considera tobe ridiculous madness. W hen I waa married, we werethirteen of us a t the office of m y father-in-law, Last and&.,--and a good deal of business was done there, I callwure you. And now for more l ies on the stage :-Whenthe hero walks away in a as, tage-like manner, toserve his native country, why does the backdoor alwaysopen of itself ?And then this Virtue rewarded !--oh, oh ! I have beenthese seveuteen yeam a coffee-broker, at No. 37 LaurierCanal, and I have had a great deal of experience, butI am always much shocked when I see the dear, goodtr u th so distorted. REWARDED irtue, forsooth ! just aa ifvirtue was a trade commodity ! I t i e not so in the world,and it is very good tha t it is not so, for whem would bethe real merit if virtue were always rewarded 1 W hythen always invent su ch shameful lies ? There is, forinstance, Lucas, the warehouse-porter, who had been inthe employ of Last an d Co.'s father,-the firm was thenh t nd Meyer, but the Meyers are no longer in it,-hewas really an honeat man, in m y opinion. Never wasa single coffee-bean missing; he went to church verypunc tually; an d was a teetotaller. W hen m y father-in-law was at his country seat at Driebergen, this mankep t th e house, the cash, and everything. Once thebank paid him seventeen guilders too much, and hereturned them. H e i s now too old and gouty to work,


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8 MAX HAVELAAR.

and therefore starves, for our l a ~ g e usiness transactionsrequire young m e n . Well, this Lucas has been a veryvirtuous man-but is he rewarded ? Does a prince givehim diamonds, or a fairy nice din ne rs? Certaiiily n o t ;he is poor, arid he remains poor, and that niust be so.I cannot help him. We want active young men for ourextensive bwiness ; but if I could do anything for him,his merit would he rewarded in m easy life, now thathe is old. Then if all warehouse-porters, and everybodyelse became virtuous, all would be rewarded in thisworld, and there would remain no special reward for thegood people hereafter. But on the stage they distort every-thing-turn everything in to lies.

I too am virtuous, but do I ask a reward for that?When my affairs go on well, as they generally do ; whenmy wife and children are healthy, so th at I have nothingto do with docton; when I can put aside every yeaf asmall sum for old age ; when Fred behaves well, that hemay be able to take my place when I retire to my country-seat near Diiebergen,-then I am quite satisfied. But allthis is only a natural consequence of circumstances, andbecause I attend to my businem. I claim nothing for myvirtue ; and that I ax11 a virtuous man is evident frommy love for truth, which is second only to my great in -clination to my Faith-I should like to convince-you ofthis, dear reader, because it is my excuse for writing th isbook. An othe r passion equally strong is my love of bus i-


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MAX HAVELAAR. 3

ness. I arn a coffee-broker, at No. 37 Lnnrier Canal.W ell, reader, this to ok owes its existence to my inviolablelove for truth, and my zeal for business. I will tell youhow all this has happened. B ut a s 1 111ust now leave youfor some time, being obliged to go to the Excliange, I in-vite you to a secoud chap ter. Elny, t ake this with you ;i t may be of service to you. Look liere,-my card,-I ail1th e " Co.," since the Meyers welit ont-old Last is myfather-in-law :-

Jaat d Go.,Gofee- grokora,


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BUSINESSs slack on the Coffee Exchange. The SpringAuction will make it right again. Don't suppose, how-e\*er, th at we have no thing to do. A t Busselinck andWaterman's trade is slacker still. I t is a strange worldth is : one gets a deal of experience b y frequenting theExchange for twen ty years. Only fancy th at they havetried-I mean Busselinck and Waterman-to do me ou tof the custom of Ludwig Stern. As I do not knowwhether you are familiar w ith th e Exchange, I will tellyou that Stern is an eminent coffee-merchant in Ham-burg, who always employed Last and Co. Quite acci-dentally I found tha t o u t 1 mean tha t bungling businessof Busselinck and Waterman. They had offered to re-duce the brokerage by one-fourth per cent. They arelow fellows-nothing else. And now look what I havedone to stop them. Any one in my place would perhapshave written to Ludwig Stern, " that we too would diminishthe brokerage, arid that we hoped for consideration onaccounl of th e long services of Last and Co."


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MAX HAVELAAR. 11

1 have calculated that our firm, during the h t fiftyyears, has gained four hundred thousand gclllders by Stern.Our connexion dates from the beginning of the continentalsystem, when we smuggled Colonial produce and such likethings from Hehgoland. No, I won't reduce the brokerage.

I went to the Polen coffeehouse, ordered pen and paper,and wrote :-

" That became of the many honoured commissions re-" ceived from North Germany, our business transactions" had been extended"-[it is the simple truth]-" and that" this necessitated an augmentstion of our staff '-[it is thetruth : no more than yesterday evening our bookkeeperwas in the office after eleven o'clock to look for his spec-tacles] ;-" that, above all things, we were in great want" of respectable, educated young men to conduct the Ger-" man correspondence. That, certainly, there were many" young Germans in Amsterdam, who p o a m d the re-" quisite qualifications, but that a respectableh-[it isthe very truth]," seeing the frivolity and immorality ofI young men, and the daily increasing number of adven-" turers, and with an eye to the necessity of making tor-" rectness of conduct go hand in hand with correctness" in the execution of orderaJ-[it is the truth, observe,and nothing but the truth]," that such a firm-I mean" Last and Co., coffee-brokers, 37 Laurier Canal-could" not be anxious enough in engaging new hands."

All that is the simple truth, wder. Do you know


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12 MAX IIAVELAAR.th at th e young German who always stood a t tlie E x -change, nea r th e sev enteenth pillar, has eloped with tliedau ghte r of Busselinck an d I\Taterman ? Ou r M ary, likeher, will be thirteen years old in September.

" That I had the honour to hear from Mr. Saffuler "-[Saffeler trav els far Stern]-" th a t th e honoured head of" the firm, Ludwig Stern, had a son, Mr. Ernest Stern," who wished for employrnent for some tim e in a Du tch" house."

"Th a t I, mindful of th is "--[here I referred again to theimm ol-ality of cmploye2, and also to the history of thatdaughter of Busselinck and Waterman ; i t won't do anyharm to te ll it],--" th a t 1: mindful of this, wished, with" all my heart, to offer Mr. Ernest Stern the German cor-'I respondence of our firm."

Fiwm delicacy I avoided all allusion to honorarium orsalary ; yet I said :-

" That if Mr. Ernest Stern would like to stay with us," a t 37 Laurier Canal, my wife would care for him as a" mother, aud have his liuen mended in the housev--[that is the very truth, for Mary sews and knita verywell],--and in conclusion I said, "that we were a reli-" gious family."

The last sentence may do good, for the Sterns an:Lutherans. I posted th at letter. You understand th atold Mr. Stern could not very well give his custom toBusseliuck and Waterman, if his son tve1.e in our office.


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M I X IIAVEI.AAR. 13I ax11 very anxious for a reply. But to return to my book.Some time .ago I walked one evening throilgll KalverStreet, and stopped looking into a shop where a grocerwas diligently so rting a quantity of-

" Java nziddlitzg, jt te , y e l lm , Clreribon cofce,sligh tly damaged,,"

which interested me much, for I am very inquisitive.Suddenly I observed a gentleman standing next to me inf o n t of a bookseller's shop, whom I thought I had seenbefore, though I endeavoured in vain to recollect him.He, too, seemed to recogniw me ; or every moment welooked a t one another. I must confess, that I really wastoo much interested in the adulterated coffee immediatelyto observe, what I saw afterwards, viz., that his clotheswere very shabby; otherwise I should not have takenan y not.ice of him ; but all of a sudden I thought, perhapshe is a commercial traveller for a German firm, hich isin need of a trustw orthy broker. H e had rather a Germanface, an d appeared som ething of a traveller too; he wasvery fair, w ith blue eyes, and had something about h i n ~which made you thin k th at he was a foreigner. Insteadof a respectable winter-coat h e wore a shaw l or plaid, an dlooked a s if he had just ended a long journey. 1 houghtI saw a customer, and gave him an address card, '' Lastand Co., Coffee-brokers, 37 Laurier C a d " H e took it,and holding it near the gaslight looked at it, and said,


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" I thank you, but I was mistaken ; I thought I had thepleasure of seeing an old school-fellow, but.. .Last.. . hatis not th e righ t name."

"Excuse me," I said, for I am always polite, " I amMr. Drystubble-Batavus Drystubble ; Last and Co. isthe firm,offee-brokers, at No. 37 Laurier Canal."

" Well, Drystubble, don't you know me ? Look mestraight in the face."The more I looked him in the face, th e more I remem-bered having seen him before ; but, strange to say, his facemade an mpression on me as if I smelt foreign pe ihea .Do not laugh a t that, reader ; by and by you will see howthat was. I feel quits assured that he had not a drop ofperfumery about him, and yet I smelt something verystrong, something which reminded me of-then I knewhim !"Was i t you," I said, "who rescued me from the Greek ?"" To be sure," said he, " and how are you 1"I told him that we were thirteen of us in our office, and

that we had plenty to do, and then I asked him how hehad got on, which I felt quite sorry for afterwards, for itappeared that his pecuniary circumstances were not pros-perous, and I dislike poor people, because it is for themost part their own fault, as the Lord would not forsakea person who had served Him faithfully. If I had onlysaid, "W e are thir teen of us," and " I wish you good-night," then I should have got rid of him; but these


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MAX HAVRLAAH. 15quiestions and replies made it every minute more difficultto shake him off. However, I must confess, that if I hadshaken him off you would not have had this book to read,for it owes its existence to that meeting ! I like to lookat the bright side of everything, and those who do notare discontented creatures : I can't bear them. Yes, yes,it was the same person who had rescued me out of theclntchea of the Greek ! Don't think, however, that Ihad been taken prisoner by pirates, or that I had had abrawl in the Levant. I have told you already that Iwent, after my marriage, with my wife to the Hague,where we saw the Museum, and bought flannel in VeeneStreet,-the only excursion that my extensive business atAmsterdam ever allowed me. No ; t was on my accountthat he gave a Greek a bloody nose, for always interfer-ing with other people's business. It was in the year1834 I think, and in September, the annual fair-time atAmsterdam. Bs my parenta intended to make a clergy-man of me, I learned Latin. Afterwards, I often won-dered why you must understand Latin to my in Dutch," God ia god " Enough, I went to the Latin school, nowcalled the Gymmwium, and there waa the fair,-in Am-sterdam, I mean. On the Wester Market were bootha ;and if you, reader, are an Amsterdammer, and aboa myage, you will remember that in one of them was a mostbeautiful girl with black eyes, dressed as a Greek; herfather too wae a Greek, or at least he had the appearance


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1 6 MAX IIAVELAAH.of a Greek. They sold all sor ts of perfunies. I was justold enough to t hin k th e girl very beautiful, without havingthe courage to speak to her. Such an attem pt would havebeen fruitless ; or a g irl of eighteen th inks a boy of six-teen a child, and there she is quite light. P e t we school-boys always went to th e We ster Market to see tha t girl.

Now, he who stood before me with the plaid was oncewith us, though some years younger than the rest, andtherefore too childish to look at the Grecian girl ; but liewas du x of our class,-for he was very clever, th a t I mustconfess,-and he was very fond of playing, romping, an dfighting ; herefore he was with us. W hile we looked froma distance a t the Grecian girl (I think we were ten of us),an d deliberated how we sho uld se t about making acquaint-ance with her, we made up our minds to put our moneytogether to buy something. B ut then i t was very difficultto know who should be so bold as to speak to the girl.Ev ery one liked it, bu t nobody dared atte m pt it. W ecast lots, and I was chosen. Now, I confess that I donot like to brave dangers ; I am a husband and a father,an d thin k every one who braves danger to be a fool : thisyou may read in th e Bible. I t is a great satisfaction forme to h d ha t I think about danger and suchlike thingsexactly as I did many years ago. I have sti l l the sameopinion as I had on that very evening when I stood closeto th e Greek's booth, with th e twelve pence we h ad pu ttogether in l n y hand. B u t because of false shame, I dared


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not my that I had not the courage to do i t ; beaides, Ihnd to advance against my will, or my companions pushedme, and soon I waa standing before the booth.

I did not see the girl ; I saw nothing. All becamegreen and yellow before my eyes.. .I stammered out theFimt Aorist of I do not know which verb..."Phit-d I" said she. I recovered a little and continued,

-


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18 MAX HAVELAAH.

tall nor strong, and only thirteen years old, bu t he was abrave and nimble little fellow. 1 still see the sparklingof hia eyes ; he gave the Greek a blow with his fist, and Iwas saved. Afterwards I heard that the Greek drubbedhim soundly, but as I have a steady principle never tomeddle with other people's business, I ran away immedi-ately, and so I did not aee it.

That is the reason why his face reminded me so muchof perfumes, and how easy it is in Amsterdam to quarrelwith a Greek.

Afterwards, whenever that man was with his booth onthe Wester Market, I always went elsewhere to amusemyself.As I am very fond of philosophical observations, I must

be allowed to remark how strangely all things hang to-gether in thi s world. If the eyes of that girl had beenlighter, if h er tresses ha d been shorter, or the boys hadnot pushed me against the booth, you would not now bereading th is book : herefore be thankful for all that hap-pened. Believe me, every thing in the world is good, a sit is, and those discontented men who are always full ofcomplaints are not m y friends. There you have Busse-linck and Wa erman... ; but I must go on, for I have tofinish my book before the great Spring Coffee Auction. Tospeak th e truth-for I like truth-I felt it very unpleasantto meet that person again. I saw in a moment that hewas not an acquaintance to be proud of. He looked very


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MAX HAVELAAR. 1 9

pale, and when I asked him what o'clock it was, hedidn't know ! These things a man observes who has frequented the Exchange for twenty years or so, and trans-acted business there.-I 've witnessed many a crash.

I thought he would turn to the right, and therefore Iwent to the left ; but, lo, he too turned to the left, and soI was in for a conversation with him; but I bore in mindthat he did not know what o'clock it was, and perceivedat the same time that his coat was buttoned up to hischin, which is a very bad sign, so I did not speak much.He told me that he had been in India, that he waamarried, and had children. All very well ; but this wasnot very interesting to me. At the Kapelstq,'-I neverbefore went through that steeg,' because it is not con-sidered respectable,-but this time I intended to turn tothe right, and pass through the Kapelsteeg,-I waited tillthat little street was just behind us, to make him under-stand that his way was straight on, and then I said verypolitely-for I am always polite: one never knowswhether he may not afterwards want to use a per-son :-" I am very much pleased that I have seen youagain, Sir,.. .and...and, good-bye... have to go this way."Then he looked like an idiot at me and sighed, and allof a sudden took hold of one of the buttons of mycoat..."Dear Drystubble," said he, " I have to ask yousomething."

Knpcbterg = Butterfly Lane. 8Iccy = Lane.


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20 MAX HAVELAAR.I trembled a ll over. H e did not know what o'clock it

was, and had to ask me something I Of course I repliedthat " I had no time to spare, and had to go to theExchange," though i t wae evening;-but if you havefrequented the Exchange for some twenty yeam... nd aperson a s h you s o m e t h q without knowing what o'clockit is... I dieengaged the button, bade him farewell in apolite manner-for I am always polite-and went throughthe Kapelateeg, which I otherw ise never do, because it isnot fashionable,and fashionableneaa I like above all things.I hope th at nobody saw me.


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CHAPTER 111.TEE following day, when I came home trom the Ex-

change, Fred told mo that aomebody had called to epeakto me. According to the description it was Shawlman.How could he have found me out---oh, yes, I see, thecard1

This made me think of taking my children away fromschool, for i t is very annoying to be troubled twenty orthirty years afterwards by a school-companion who wearsa shawl instead of a coat, and who doea not know whato'clock i t is. I have also forbidden Fred to go to theWester Market when there are booths.

Next day I received a letter with a large parcel. Ibegan at once to read :

" DEARDRYSTUBBLE" [I think he ought to have writ-ten 'Sir,' because I am a broker.] " Yestarday I called" at your house with the intention of asking you a favour." I believe you are in good c i r c ~ c e s " - [ t h a t is true;we are thirteen of m in our office],-" and I should like" to we your credit to bring about a matter of great im-


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" portance to me."-[Should you not think tha t he wouldrather have given me a commission for th e Spring Auc-tion I)--" Through many misfortunes I stand somewhat" in need of money."-[Somewhat ! he had no shirt on hisback ; h k is what he calla somewhat !I-" I cannot give" my dear wife everything that is necessary to make life'I agreeable, and the education of m y children is, from'I pecuniary impedimerrts, not as I should like i t to be."-[To make life agreeable- ? education of children- ?Do you think th at he wishes to take a season ticket forhis wife at the opera, and place his children in abymnasium at Geneva ? I t was autumn, and very cold,-he lived in a garret, and without fire. When I receivedthat let ter I was igno rant of this, but afterwards I wentto him, and I am still angry at the foolish style of hisletter. W ha t th e deuce !---Whoever i s poor may sayi t ;-there mus t be poor people; th a t is necessary insociety. If he does not ask charity, if he annoys nobody,I don't care for his poverty, but disguising the matter isvery improper. Now, le t us see what more he has tosay.]-" As I am obliged to provide for my household, I" have reaolved to make use of a tal en t which, as I be-" lieve, I am in possession of. I am a poet---"--[Pshaw !you know, reader, how I and all reasonable men thinkabout that] " -and writer. Since childhood I have" expressed my feelings in verse, and afterwards, too, I" always wrote down in poetry the sensations of my soul.


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MAX HAVELAAR. 23" I believe that I have made some valuable pieces, an d I" want a publisher for them. This, hen, is the difficulty." I am unknown to the public, and the publishers judge" of works more according to the reputatio n of the auth or" th an th e value of th e contents."-[Exactly as we judgeof th e coffee, according to th e repu tation of th e trade-marks.]-" The meri t of m y work can only be established" by publication ; and the booksellers require payment in" advance of all the expensesJJ--[There they are quiteright]-"which is at present not convenient to me. I" am, however, so convinced that my book would clear" the expenses, that I could pledge m y word for it, and" as I am encouraged by our meeting of the day before" yesterday,"---[That iswhat he calls being encouraged!]-" I have resolved to ask you to be surety for me to a" bookseller for the expenses of a first edition, even if it" were only a small book. I give you t h e choice of works" for th at first experiment. I n th e accompanying parcel" you will find many manuscripts; from which you will" see that I hav e thou ght, worked, and experiencedmuch "-[I never heard t ha t he had any business a tall];-"and if I am not a stranger to the talent of ex-" pressing myself well, my ill success will not be due to" an y w an t of impressions. I n hopes of a kin d answer," I rem ain your old school-fellowJ'--[And he signedthis with his name ; hu t I mak e a secret of tha t, becauseI do not like to bring discredit on any one.]


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24 MAX HAVELAAR.Dear reader, you can understand how foolish I looked

in being made all at once a broker in verses. I am quitesure that if Shawlman-so I will continue to call him-had seen me by dayhght, he would not have daredto ask me such a favour; for respectability and dqpitycanuot be concealed ; but it was evening, and therefore Idon't mind.

Of course, I would have nothing to do with t h i ~ on-sense. I should have returned the parcel, but that Idid not know where he lived, and I heard nothing ofhim I thought that he was ill, or dead. Last week therewas a party at the Roaemeyers, who are sugar-broken.Fred went out for the first time with us ; he is sixteen,and I think it right that a young man at that age shouldsee something of the world ; otherwbe he will go to theWester Market, or somewhere else. The girls had beenplaying on the piano and singing, and at dessert theyteased each other about something that seemed to havehappened in the front mom while we played at ,whistin the back room-somethmg in which Fred was con-cerned.

" Yes, yes, Louise," said Betsy Rosemeyer ; "you didcry. Papa, Fred made Louise cry."

My wife said that Fred should not go out again if hewns so naughty; she thought that he had pinchedLouise, or sornethlng like that, which is not proper, andI, too, made preparations to say a Sew words a b u t it,


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when Louise said : " No, no, Fred was very kind ; Ishould like him to do it again !" 1

" What then ?" He had not pinched her ; he had beenreciting, that was all. Of course the mistress of thehouse likes to have some fun at dessert,-it enlivens thecompany. Mrs. Rosemeyer thought that what had madeLouise cry would amuse us too, and therefore askedFred, who was as red as a turkey-cock, to repeat it. Icould not understand what he had done; I knew hiawhole r&ertozi.c, which consisted of the "Wedding-Partyof the Gods," the books of the Old Testament in rhyme,and an episode from the "Wed- of Carnacho," whichboys always like so much, because i t is rather funny ;and what there was in all this that could make any onecry was a riddle to me ; it is true, a girl of that ageweeps very soon-" Come, Fred ! Please do !"-and Fredbegan. As I do not like to stretch the curiosity of thereader, I will here at once state, that before leaving homethey had opened Shawlman's parcel, and Fred and Maryhad picked out of it a piece of sentimentality, whichafterwards gave me a great deal of trouble. This bookowes ite existence to that parcel, and in due time I willaccount for it quite becomingly; for I like to make itknown that I love truth, and nm a good man of business.-[Last and Co., coffee-brokers, at No. 37 Isurier Canal.]

Fred recited a thing full of nonsense. A young manwrote to his mother that he had been in love, and that


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26 MAX HAVGLMR.his sweetheart had married another--[there she was quiteright I think]-yet that he nevertheless always loved hismother very much. Is that statement true or not ?Do you think so many words are wanted to ssy that?At all events I had eaten a piece of bread and cheese,and nearly finished my second pear, before Fred finishedhis story. But Louise cried again, and the ladies saidthat it was very beautiful.Then Red, who, I believe, thought he had brought out amasterpiece, told them that he found it in a parcel sentto my house by the man with the shawl; and I explainedto the gentlemen how that happened, but I said nothingabout the Grecian girl, because Fred was present, neitherdid I speak of the Kapelsteeg. Every oue thought thatit was quite right on my part to get rid of that man.Presently you will see that there were other things in theparcel of more solid worth, some of which will appearin this book, because they concern the coffee-auctions ofthe Company.Afterwards, the -publisher asked me whether I would

not add to the work the piece or poem which Fred hadrecited. I consented, but I wish it to be known that Iam not responsible for the seutiments expressed. All stuffand nonsense. However, I withhold my observationsfrom want of space. I will only remark that the poemwas written at 'TADANG,"n 1843, and that this is ofiuferior mark-I mean the Padang coffee :-


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Moeder ! 'k ben we1 ver van 't land,Waar mij 't leven we d geechonken,Waar mijne eerste traneu blonken,

Wnar ik opwies arm uw hand ;Waar uw moedertrouw der ziel

Vnn den knanp haar zorgen wijddeEn hem liefdrijk stond ter njde,En hem ophief als hij vie1 ;

Schijnbaar sch eude t lot de banden,Die ons bonden, wreed van een, . .

'k Sta hier we1 aan vreemde strandenMet mij zelf, en God. . . lleen, . . .

Maar toch, moeder, wat me griefde,Wat rnij vreugd gaf of verdriet,

Jfoder ! twijfel aan de liefde,Aan l~et art uws lievlings niet !

't Is nog naauwlijks twee paar jaren,Toen ik 't laatst op gindachen grondZwijgencl aan den oever stond

0111e toekomat in te staren ;Toen ik ' t achoone tot mij riey

Uat ik van die toekomst wachtteEII het heden atout veracbtte

En n ~ i j andijzen whiep ;

Toen, door alle stoornis heenDie zich opdeed voor mijn schrdn,

't Hart zich koen een uitweg baande,En zich h n ~ e n dalig wsande . . .

Maar die tijd, sinds 't laatst vaarwelHoe gezwind ons ook onttogen,

Onbevatbaar bliksemsnel,Als een schim voorbijgevlogen, . . .0, hij liet in 't voorwaartsgaan,Diepe, diepe sporen stann !'kProefde vreugde en smart met 6611,

'k Heb gedacht en 'k heb gestreden,'k Heb gejuicht en 'k heb gebeden, . . .

't Is me ala vlogen eenwen heen !'k Heb naar levensheil geutreefd,

'k Heb gevonden en verloren,En, een kind nog kort te voren,

Jaren in Qhn nnr doorleefd. . . .'k Minde een meisje. Heel mijn leven

Scbeen mij door die liafde schoon ;'k Zag in hnar een eerekroon,

Als een eindloon van mijn ~ ~ I W V ~ U ,3lij door God ten doe1 gegeven ;-

Zulig door den reinen what,


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28 MAX HAVELAAH.Die Zijn zog mij toegewogen, Nesuw den moedarechoot onttogan,

Die Zin g m t gwchonken had, 't Emate vocht vond voor den dorst,Dankte ik met een tram n de oogen ;.. 't E m te licht in Moederoop ? . . .

Liefde was met godsdienst Un, Neen, geen band die vantar bindt,En 't gemoed, dat opgetogen, Vaster hartan houdt omsloten,Dankend opsteeg tot den Hoogen Dan de band, door Qod gesloten,

Dankte en bad vwr haar alleen ! . . . Tnrschen 't moederhart en 't kindEn een hart, dat 266 zich hechtte

Zorgen b a d e mij die liefde, Ann het schoon, dat even blonk,O m s t kwelde mij het hart, Dat mij nieta dan dwrnen schonk,En ondrsaglijk wee de smart, - En geen enkel bloempje vlechtte, . . .

Dic mij 't week gemoed doorgriefde. Zon daleelf& hart de trouw'k Heb slechta angsten leed gaga&rd, Van het moederhart vergetan ;

Waar ik 't hwgst genot vemachtte, En de liefde van de vrouw, ,En voor 't heil wan- ik trachtte, Die mijne eerste kind erht en

Was mij gif en wee b e w a d . . . Opving in 't beaorgd gemoed,-Die mu, ale ik weende, suste,

'k Vond genot in 't ljjdend mijgen I Raantieevan de wangen kuste, . . .'k Stond standvastii hopend daar ; Die mij voedde met haar bloed ? . .

Onspoed deed den prije rnij stijgw, . . . .'k Droeg en leed zoo graag voor hsar I 'k Ben hier vkr van wat het leven

'k Telde nunp noch onapoedsslagen, Oinds om Eoeteen schoons kan geven;Vreugde schiep ik in verdriet, En 't genot van d' eerate jeugd,

Alles, alles wilde ik dragen, . . . Vaa% genwmd en hoog gepremn,Roofde 't lot mij haar slechta niet. Knn we1hiermijn deel niet wezen ;. . . 't Eenzaarnharte kent geen vreugd.Wat ismindie eens begon, Bteil en doornig zijn mijn paden,

Bij de liefde m2t het leven Onspoed drnkt mij diep ter ne0r,'t Kind door God in 't hart gedreven En de I& mij opgehden

Toen het nogniet staarn'len kon I . . . Kneltme, endoethethart mij mer;-Tocn hat aan& moeddnw8l1 h t et slechtr mijn.tranen tui ~e n,


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MAX HAVELAAH. 29Ah ux,menig moed'lwe uarMe in den boecem der Natuur,

't Hoofd zootnnrig n&r doet baigen, ...Vaak ala mij de moed ontzonk,

Is de zncht rnij achier ontvloden :"Vader I sehenk rnij bi de dooden,Wat bet leven mij niet schonk !-

Vader I geef me aan gene zijde,Ah de mond den doodsmi, d,-

V d e r ! gesfme u n ene rijdeWat ik hierniet smadste. nmr!"Maar, bedemend op mijn lippen,Skeg die be4 niet tot den Heer, . .'k Booswe1 be1 ruijn h i e n near,-

'k Voelde we1 een mcht me ontglip-P~J-

Maar het was : "nag *id, o Hcer JQtqfnijecnt m(jn nwc& d r "

[The translator venturea with great diffidence, for he knowshow much beauty and t en d e m m h av e been loat in the t rans-lation, to give an English version of the Poem]

0mother dear, I 'm fsr Piom home, Bnt Deutiny dm+.royed the bandThe land thst gave me birth : That joined as wo in one ;

All hopelm and forlorn I roam, And now upon a foreign atrandA stranger upon earth. I am, with Qod, alone !

'Was in thst home the dewy tear Thy love, my mother dear, does stillPirst glietaned in mine eye% In sorrow and in joy,

Thy gentle hand diqelled my fear: With undiminished ardour fillA mothefa love ne'er dies ! The heart of thy loved boy.

"has there thy faithful soul watched At home, 'tis scarce four years ago,-Thy helplees little child, [o'er I stand upon the shore,

Guiding the feet untried before, And think I see in future ~cenes,With word and look 8o mild. Beauties unknown before.


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30 MAX H A V E L M R .A t o nce t he p m n t I d espise,

And dreaming, th ink m e blest :I make m p l f a P a d b e ,

Regardlews of the restI said farewell : I m e i t n ow :

'Twss all th at phantom scene,W hich d i m p p r e d so so on ! 0 ow

Deluded I have been !And time which fled with lightning's

Deep traces left behind : [wing,I t dried up the d ect iona ' spring-

Destroyed my pesca of mind.I ' re teated oy, I've teat4 grief,

I 've thought, m d I have striven,W ith eames tpm yer have sought relief,Bu t s t il l I 'm tempest-driven.I 've atriven at ter blias in life,I 've found and lo st the power :

I am a child grown old in atrife--Whole agea in an hour.

0 mother dear, will you believe?(Qod knows th at I l ie not),

0mother dear, as ruth receive,Th at you are not forgot.

I loved a girl who sesmed to beA trennure from on high,

By God Almighty given me,I knew not how or why.

And Him I than ked w ith happy team,For making her my o m ,

My sighs ware lost in transient joy,I prayed for her alone.

Yet lore induced a weight of care,And troub le filled my b resst ;

I found b ut p ain and sorrow there,Where I had ooked fo r m t

I suffered gladly for ber d e ,In sorrows doubly dea r ;-

No sscrifice but I would makeSo fate would leave her here !

Her image rooted n my heart, 'Till life's last sigh shall atand,

When tw shall join no more to partIn her dear fatherland.

But what is such a blighted love,To t ha t with life begun-

A love imp lanted from above-Th'de ct i on of a son 9

The habe juet taken from th e womb,Draws from its mother's eyes

A l ight to guide him through t he gloomThnt nll around him lies.

H e draws from ou t bin mother's bresstA streom that gives him life :

Her faithfulness inenres his rest,P r o k t a f rom ear ly s t ri fe !


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MAX HAVELAAH. 31She trerreurea up his childish freaks,

And sooth- him when he crier,Kisses th e tears from off h is cheeks

W ith love th at never dies !0 mother dear, will you believe

Your son doea love you y et ?0 mother dear, will you believe

Your son doea not forget 1I'm far away from al l bu t thought

Of yonder better aphere ;Th e joys of early youth I 've nought :

I cannot And them here.My lonely heart for ever mourns :

I'm burdened heavily ;My paths obstructed with th e thorn s

Of long adversity.In Nature's bosom oft have I

Let fall a flood of team ;

And even oft been heard to sigh,When overwhelmed with f e r n :-

" 0 Father, give me w ith th e dead,What, living, I'm denied :

0 Father, stretch me on the bedW hereon my loved one died I

'[0 Fathe r, give me at th eir side,Of all thy gifta the best-

0 Father, give me at their ~ id e ,W hat here I yearn f o ~ R e a t"

B ut t hi s rebellious hopelesa nigh,Scarce uttered, died away ;

I t went not up to God on high,And I knelt down to pray :-

"Not yet, my Father, take me hence,Though quivering on th e rack-

0 tak e me not, my Father, hence ;B ut give my mother back !"


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C H A P T E R IV .BEFORE go on, I must tell you that young Mr. Stem

has come ; he is a good fellow. H e s e e m to be active andclever, but I believe th a t he--as the Germans call it," Schwcimnt." M a y i s thirteen. His outfit is very nice,and h e has got a copybook, inwhich to practise t he Dutc hstyle. I wonder whether I shall soon receive an orderfrom Ludwig Stern. Mary shall embroider a pair ofslippers for him,-I mean to say for young Mr. Stern.Busselhck and Waterman have made a mistake,-arespectable broker does not supplant, that's what I say.The day after the party at the Rosemeyers, who arcsugar-merchants, I called Fred, and ordered him to fetchShawlman's parcel. You must know, reader, th at I amvery precise in my family as to Religion and Morality.Now then, yesterday evening, just when I was eating myfirat pear, I read in th e face of one of th e gi rls th a t therewas something in a verse from the parcel that was notright. I myself had not listened, but I saw that Betsycrumbled her bread, and that was enough for me. You


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MAX HAVELAAX. 33will perceive, reader, that I am a man of the world. Imade Fred hand over to me " t h e beautiful poem" ofyesterday evening, and very soon saw the line which causedBetsy to crumble her bread. They speak there of a childon the breast of its mother,-I say no thing of that ;-but:" which scarcely left th e mother's womb,"-that I disap-proved,-to speak about that , I mean,-so did my wife.Mary is thirteen. Of " cabbage"' nd such things we donot speak ; but to give all iu this way its right name isnot necessary, as I am a great lover of morality . So Imade Fred, who knew i t by heart, promise th at he wouldno t repea t i t again,-at least not before he was member ofDoctrina: because no young girls come there,-and then Ipu t i t in my writing-desk, I mean th e verse. Bu t I wantedto know whether there was anything eb e of an offensivenature in th e parcel ; I began to look a nd to inspect every-thing. I could not read all, for a grea t deal was writ ten i11foreign languages which I did not understand, bu t a t lastI caught sigh t of a treatise entitled "Account of the CoffeeCulture in th e Residency of Menado." My heart leapedfor joy, because I am a coffee-broker, at No. 37 LaurierCanal, and " Menado" is a very good mark. So thi s Shawl-man, who made immoral verees, had been in the Coffeetrade. I looked at th e parcel with qui te a different eye. Isaw treatises in i t which I did not completely understand,bu t they showed a knowledge of business. There were

'Seepage3. A club in Amsterdam.C


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34 MAX HAVELAAR.statements, problems, computations, which I could notunderstand at all,and everything was done with so muchcare and exactness, that I, to speak plainly,--for I am alover of truth,-thought this Shawlman, if perhaps thethird clerk left,-a likely event, as he is old and dull,--could very well take his place. Of course I should like,first of all, to have testimony as to his honesty, r e u o n ,and respectability, for I will not take anybody into myofficeuntil I am satisfied on these points. This is a fixedprinciple with me. You have seen it in my letter toLudwig Stern.

I did not care to show Fred that I began to take aninterest in the contents of the parcel; and therefore Imade him go away. I grew quite dizzy when I took inhand one treatise after another, and read the titles. It istrue, there were many verses among them, but also muchthat was useful, and I was astonished at the variety ofthe different subjects. I acknowledge-for I love truth-that I, who have always been engaged in the coffee trade,am not in a position to criticise ;but without going so faras criticising, I can pronounce the list of the different titlescurious enough. As I have told you the history of theGreek, you know that in my youth I was taught Latin,and though I avoid quotations in my correspondence-which would not be right in a broker's office-yet I thought,on seeing all these things : "De omnibus aliquid, de totonihil," or " Multa non multum."


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MAX HAVELAAH. 35

Yet I said tliie n1ol.e out of anger, and a desire to speakin Latin of all this learning before me, thau because Imeant it. Fo r if I examined something or other for atime, I was bound to c o n fw that th e author appeared toknow all about it, and had even a great deal of sound argu-ment in support of his opinions. I found in the parceltreatises and disquisitions-.

On the Sanscrit, as the Mother of the Teutonic Lan-guages ;

On the Punishment of Infanticide ;On the Origin of the Nobility ;On the Difference between the Ideas : " Infinite time,"

and "Eternity ;"On the Theory of Chances ;On the Book of Job--(there was somethmg else about

J o b ; bu t in verse) ;On the Prote'ine in th e Atm ospheric Air ;On Rusaian Politics ;On th e Vowels ;On th e Cellular Prisons ;On th e Ancient H ypothews ;Of the "H'OT vami;"On th e Desimbleness of th e Abolition of Pun ishm ents

for Slander ;On t h e Causes of th e Revolt of th e D utc h against Spain,

not being the Desire for Religious or Political Free-dom ;


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36 MAX HAVELAAR.On Perp etual Motion, th e S quaring of th e Circle, and

th e Extraction of the Square Root of S urds ;On th e Ponderability of Light ;On the Decline of Civilisation since the Commence-

ment of Christianity ;O n th e Mythology of Iceland ;On the Emile of Rousseau ;On Sirius as the Cen tre of the Solar System ;On Import Duties as Useless, Inde licate, U nju st, and

Immoral-(of this I had never heard before) ;On V erse as the Most Ancient Language-(this I do not

believe) ;On White Ants ;On the Unnaturalness of Schools ;On Hyd raulic Ma tter in connexion with Rice Culture ;O n th e Ap parent Ascendency of th e W estern Civilisa-

tion ;On the Price of Java Coffee-(this I have put aside) ;On the Secret Societies of t he Chinese, etc. etc. etc.

And this was not all. I found, not to speak of th e verses-which were in all languages-many sm all treatises hav-ing no tit le ;-romances i n Malay, war-songs in Javanese ,and w hat not. I found also letters, many of them in lan-guages which I did not understand. Some were directedto him, others written by him, or were only copies ; b utevidently made for some particular purpose ; for all weresigned by o ther persons, who testified th a t the y agreed with


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MAX HAVELAAR. 37

the original. I saw also extracts from diaries, notes andthoughts at random-some very much so. I had, as I saidbefore, laid aside some treatises, because it appeared to methat they would be useful in my business, and I live formy business ;-but I must confess that I mas at a loss toknow what to do with the rest. I could not return him theparcel ; for I did not know where he lived. I t was opennow. I could not deny that I had looked at the contents-[and I should not have denied it, being eo fond of truth),--because I had tried in vain to do it up exactly as it hadbeen before. Moreover, I could not diasemble that somedissertations on Coffee interested me, and that I shouidlike to make some use of them. Every day I read hereand there some pages, and became more and more con-vinced that the author must have been a coffee-broker, tobecome so completely acquainted with all sort of thingsin the world. I am quite sure that the Rosemeyers, whotrade in sugar, have not acquired such extensive know-ledge.

Now I feared that this Shawlman would drop in unex-pectedly, and again have something to tell me. I wasnow very sorry that I went that evening through theKapelsteeg, and now felt the impropriety of passingthrough unfashionable streets. Of course, if he had comehe would have asked me for some money, and would havespoken of hir, parcel. I should perhaps have given himsomething, and if he had sent me the following day the


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38 MAX HAVELAAH.mass of MSB., it would have been my legal property.Then I should have separated the wheat from the chaff;I should have singled out what I wanted for my book,and should have burned, or thrown into the waste-basket,all the rest. This I could not do now ; for if he returned,I should have to produce his property, and he, seeing thatI was interested in a couple of treatises of his, would verysoon have been induced to ask too high a price;-fornothing givea more ascendency to the d e r than thedirrcovery that the buyer stands in need of his wares.Such a position ia therefore avoided as much ss possibleby a merchant who understands his business. I haveanother idea, previously mentioned, which may prove howa person who frequents the Exchange may yet be open tohumane impressions ;-it was this : Bastianus, that is thethird clerk, who is becoming so old and stupid, has not oflate been at the ofice more than twenty-five days out ofthe thirty; and when he does come, he often does hiswork very badly. As an honest man, I am obliged toconsult the interests of the firm-ht and Co. since theMeyers have retired-to see that every one does hie work ;for I may not throw away out of mistaken pity, or excessof sensibility, the money of the h. his is my prin-ciple. I would rather give that Baatianus three p l d e r s 'out of my own pocket, than continue t o pay him everyyear seven hundred gudders which he does not deserve.

1 Five ah ihp .


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40 M A X HAVELAAR.tended a book auction a t an hotel, the " Wapen vanRern." I had forbidden Fred to buy anythmg ; but Stern,who has plenty of money, brought home some rubb ish :that 's hti business. However, Fred brought news, th a the had Reen Shawlman, who appeared to be employed atthe auction, in taking the books from the shelves, andgiving them to th e auctioneer. Fred said that he lookedvery pale, and that a gentleman, who seemed to have thedirection there, had growled at him, for letting fall acouple of complete volumea of the "Aglaja ;"' t was,indeed, very clumsy of him to damage such charmingladiee' books. I n the course of th e scolding, Fred heardthat he got fifteen pence a day. " D o you think tha t Iid,end to give you fifteen pence R day for nothing 1" werethe gentleman's words. I calculated that fifteen pence aday,-Sundays and holidays not included, otherwise hewould have spoken of so much a month or so much ayear,-make two hundred an d twenty-five g t d d e n a ye ar2I am quick in my decisions-a man who has been in busi-ness for so long a time, knows imm ediately wh at to do,-and the following morning I called on Gaafzuiger? th ebookseller who had held the auction. I asked for theman who had let fall the "Aglaja." " H e had his dismie-sal,"said Gaafzuiger ; " he was idle, conceited, and sickly."

"The Aglaja "-a Magazine for'Ladies, published at Amsterdun.' f 8, 160.a " Gufzuiger." a very chanrcterirtic name : Gacrj= talent, gift ofnature, endowment ; cuigcr = sucker.


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MAX HAVELMR . 41I bought a box of wafem, and resolved immediately togive Bastianus another trial; I could not make up my

mind to turn an old man so unexpectedly upon thestreets. To be strict, but, where it ia possible, f o r b e m ,has ever been my principle, yet I never lose an oppor-tuuity of getting information which may be of use inbusiness, and therefore I asked Gaahige r where thbShawlman lived. He gave me the address, and I put itdown. I pondered over the book to be brought out ; buta s I like the truth, I muat tell you plainly that I did notknow how to manage it. One thing is quite sure : themateriala which I found in Shawlman's parcel were im-portant to coffee-brokers. The only q u ~ t i o n as, how toarrange the materials in a proper way ;-every brokerknows how important ia the right sorti~~gf the parcels.But to write, except correspondence with "Principals,"is i t h e r out of my line, and yet 1 elt that I must write ;because the future of the trade depeuded on it. The in-formation which I derived h m hat parcel of Shawlman,is not such as Last and Co. can exclusively profit b y ;otherwise any one will understand that I should not takethe trouble to have a book printed for Busselinck andWaterman's advantage; because whoever helps a rival inbusiness is a fool ;-this is a fixed principle with me. No,I saw that danger menaced .the whole coffee-marketadanger that could only be averted by the united f o m

'Seepage 1.


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of all the brokers ; but even theae might be insufficient,m d the sugar-refiners and indigo-merchants might haveto help.

And t h i n h g it over while I write, it seems o me thatshipowners too am in some measure interested in it, andthe commercial marin+

Certainly, that is true ; sail-makersalso, and ministersof finance ; overseers of the poor, and other ministers ;pastry-cooks, and shopkeepers; women, and shipbuilders;wholesale merchants, and retail dealers, and gardeners.-

I t is curious how thoughta run on when writing-nlybook concerns also millers, clergymen, vendors of H o b -way's pills ; liquordistillers, tile-makers, and those whoLive on the national debt ;pumpmakers, and rope-makers ;weavers, and butchers ; broken' clerks, and shareholdersin the Dutch Trading Company ; n fact, on consideration,all other persons---the King too--yea, the King morethan any 1 My book must go throughout the world.There is no help for i L I o not care if Busselinckand Waterman read it----I am not envious ; but theyare old women and sneaks, that 's my opinion. I said the=me this morning to young Mr. Stern, when I introducedhim at "Artis :" ' he may write home about it.

So it was, that a few days ago, I didn't know what todo with my book, but Fred showed me a way out of thedilemma I did not tell him so, because I do not think

See note, page 4.


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MAX HAVELMR. 43it right to show anybody that I am under an obligationto him ; hat is a principle of mine,and a true one. Hesaid, that Stern was such a clever fellow, that he. madenipid progress in the Dutch hgmge, and that he hadtranslated Shawlman's German verses into Dutch. Yousee, the Dutchman had written in German, and the Ger-man translated into Dutch ; if each had stuck to his ownlanguage, much trouble would have been spared. But, Ithought, if I have my book written by this Stern-when I have anything to add, I cnn write a chapter fromt.ime to time. Fred may also help-pe has a dictionary ofdifEculties]. Nary may write the fair copy, and this ia aguarantee against all immorality ; for, you understand,that a respectable broker will not give anything into thehands of his daughter that is contrrtry to Morsls andRespectability.I spoke to the young people about my plan, and they

liked it. Only Stern, who, like Germans in general, has asmattering of literature, wanted to have a share in hand-ling the subject. This I did not approve ; but becausethere would soon be a Spring Auction, and no order hadyet come from Ludwig Stern, I did not like to oppose hiswishes. So we agreed to the following conditions :-

1. That he should contribute to the work every weektwo chapters.

2. That I should make no altelrrtions in his contribu-tions.


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4 4 MAX H A V E U A R .3. That F red should correct the g ramm atical errors.4. That I should be at liberty to write from time to

time a chapter, to give the book a respectable appearance.5. That the title should be : " Th e Coffee Auctions of

th e Dutch Trading Company."6. Th at Mary should mak e the fair copy for th e press ;

but that we should have patience with her on washing-day.7. That a complete chapter should be read every weeka t our party.

8. That all immorality should be avoided.9. Th at my name should not appear on th e title-page,

because I am a broker.10. That S tern should be at l iberty to publish German,

French, and English translations of my book, because, aahe asserted, such works are be tter understood in foreigncountries th an a t home.

11. That I should send Shawlman paper, pens, and ink.-[Stern insisted very much on this.]

I agreed to everything, for I wanted t o finiah th e book.Ste rn was ready th e following morning w ith his fht chap-ter,-and here, reader, th e question is answered, how itwaa th at a coffeebroker-[last and Co., No. 37 LaurierCanall-wrote a book, som ething like a novel.

Scarcely, however, had Ste rn commenced th e work whendifficulties arrested him. In addition to the difficulty ofselecting and arranging th e materials, he met with, every


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MAX HAVELAAR. 45

moment, in the manuscripts words and expressions whichhe did not understand, and which puzzled even me. Thesewere often Javanese or Malay ; and abbreviations also oc-curred here and there, which we could not decipher. Iperceived that we wanted Shawlman ; and as I did notthink it proper for a young man to fall into bad company,I would not send Stern or Fred to fetch him. I took somesweetmeats with me, which remained after the last party(for I always think about everything), and I went insearch of him. His abode was certainly not brilliant ;but equality for all men, and of their houses too, is achimera. He said so himself in his treatise about " Pre-tensions to Happiness." Moreover, I do not like personswho are always discontented. I t was in a back room inthe Lange-Leidsche Dwarsstraat. On the basement liveda marine store-keeper, who sold all sorts of things, as cups,saucers, furniture, old books, glasse-s, portraits of VanSpeyk, and so on. I was very anxious not to break any-thing, for such people always ask more money for the thingsthan they are worth. A little girl was sitting on the stepsbefore the house, and dressing her doll. I inquired if Mr.Shawlman lived there ; she ran away ; and her mothermade her appearance.

"Yes, sir, he lives here. Your hollour has only to goupstairs, to the first landing, then to the second, on to thethird, and your honour is there. Minnie, go and my thatthere is a gentleman come. Who cnn she say, sir?" I


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46 MAX HAVELAAR.

said that I was Mr. Drystubble, coffee-broker, at No. 37Laurier Canal, but that I should introduce myself. 1mounted as high as they told me, and heard on the thirdlanding the voice of a child singing, "Papa will como soon,--sweet papa." I knocked, and the door was opened by awoman or lady,-I did not know what to think of her.She looked very pale, and her features wore signs offatigue. She made me think of my wife when waahmg-day ia over. She was dressed in a long white gown orrobe without waistrband, which descended to her knees,and was fsstened in front with a black pin. Instead ofa respectable skirt, she wore underneath a piece of darklinen covered with flowers,-which seemed to be wraptround her body, hips, and knees very tightly. There wasno trace of the folds, width, or amplitude becoming awoman. I was glad that I did not send Fred; for herdress seemed to be extremely immodest, and the strange-neas of it was still heigbtened by the gracefulness of hermovements, at3 if she thought herself quite right in thisway, and seemed quita unconscious that she did not looklike other women. I also perceived, that she was not atall perplexed at my arrival : she did not hide anythingunderneath the table, did not move the chairs,-in a word,she did not do as is generally done, when a stranger ofrespectable appearance arrives.

She had combed her hair back like a Chinese, and boundit behind her head in a sort of knot. Afterwards I heard


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MAX HAVELAAH. 4 7that her dress is a sort of Indian costu~ne,which theycall there &rang and Kabaai, but I thought it very ugly.

"Are you Shawlman's wife 1" I asked." To whom have I the honour to speak 1" she said, and

that in a tone which seemed to me as if she meant thatI might have said honour too.

Now, I dislike compliments. With a " Principal" it isa different thing, and I have been too long a man of busi-neas not to know my position, but, to give myeelf muchtrouble on a third storey, I did not think necessary. So Isaid briefly that I was Mr. Drystubble, coffee-broker, atNo. 37 Lanrier Canal, and that I wanted to speak to herhusband.

She pointed me to a little chair, and took a little girlon her lap, that was playing on the ground. The littleboy whom I had overheard singing looked steadily at me,having viewed me from head to foot. He also, thoughonly six years old, appeared to be not at all perplexed.He was dreesed in a very strange way, hie wide trouserescarcely reached half-way down the tbigh, and his legewere naked to the ank1ee.-Very indecent, I think. "Doyou come to speak to papa 1" he asked all of a sudden ;and I 8aw at once that he had been badly brought up,otherwise he would have said " Sir." But a s I was a littleout of countenance, and wanted to speak, I replied-

"Yea, my boy, I mn here to speak to your papa ; do youthink he will be in soon ? "


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48 MAX HAVELAAR." I don't know. He went out to look for money to buy

me a box of colours.""Be quiet, my boy," said the woman. " Do play with

your pictures or with th e puppetrshow.""You know, mamma, that that gentleman took away

everything yesterday."I t appeared th at " a gentleman had been there an d take n

away everything-" a delightful vis it I The woman ap-peared to be in trouble, for secretly she wiped away hertears, whilst she brought th e little girl to her brother.

" There," said she, " play a little with Nonnie."-Astrange name. An d so h e did.

"Well, my good woman," I asked ; "do you expectyour husband presently ?"

" I do not know,"- sh e replied.Then th e little boy who had been playing with his sister,left her and asked me :

" Sir, why do you call mamma 'my good woman ?"'" What then, my boy ? " I said, "how must I address

her ?'" Well- as others do.-You should sa y ' my good

woman' to t he woman below, who sells saucers."Now I am s offee-broker-last and Co., No. 3 7 Laurier

Canal : we are thirte en of us a t th e office, and, includingStern,who receives no salary, there are fourteen. Well,my wife is n ot Madam, and ought I to call this creatureMadam ? That is impossible ; every one must reniain in


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MAX I IAVELMR. 4 9

his own station---besidea, the bailiffs took away every-thing. I thought "my good woman" quite right, andmade no alteration.

I asked why Shawlman had not called on me to ask forhis parce l? Sh e seemed to know it, and said that theyhad been to Brussels, where he had worked for th e " Idd -pendance," bu t tha t he could no t remain there, because hisarticles caused th e Jo ur na l to be so often refused at th eFrench frontiers ; th at a few days ago they had returnedto Amsterdam, where Shawlman expected a situation.

"That was certainly a t Gaafzuiger's 1" I asked." Yes, i t was ; but th at would no t do," she said.I knew more about it than she. H e had let th e Aglaja

fall, and was moreover idle, conceited, and poorly-therefore th ey had turned him out--" And," she wenton, " th at he would certainly come to me one of thesedays, and was, perhaps, just now going to my house to askfor a rep ly t o h is request."

I said tha t Shawlman might come, bu t th at h e was notto knock, that being so troublesome for the servant ; f hewaited for some time, I said, the door would certainly beopened, when somebody went out. And then I wentaway, and took my sweetmeats along with me; for, tospeak the truth, I did not like the place. I did not feelcomfortable there. A broker is certainly not a commonporter, and I maintain that I am a very respectable man ;I had on niy coat with furs, and still she sat as much at

U


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60 MAX HAVEWAR.

her ease, and spoke as calmly with her children, as if shewere alone. Moreover, she seemed to have been crying,and I cannot bear discontented persons: it was cold andunsociable there, because everything had been taken away,and I like sociability. While going .home I resolved togive Bastianus another trial, not liking to give anybodyhis dismissaL

Now i t is S tern's h t eek. Of course much is in itwhich I do not like; but I must obey stipulation No. 2,and th e Rosemeyers are of th at opinion ; but I think thatthey flatter Stern, because he has an uncle a t Ham burgin the sugar trade.

Shawlman had indeed been a t my house ; he had spokento Stern, and given him some information about wordsand m atters which Stern did not underatand. I beg thereaders to penlse the following chapters ; hen I p l ~ m i a eafterwards something more substantial, composed by my-self, Batavus Drystubble, coffee-broker (firm of Last andCo., No. 37 Laurier Canal).


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C H A P T E R V.

&OUT te n o'clock in th e morning there waa an un usu albustle on the principal highway which leads from the dis-trict Pandaglang to Lebak. " Princ ipal highway" is, per-haps, too good a nam e for a wide footpa th, which peoplecalled out of politeness, and from want of a better term," he way ;" but if you started with a carriage and fourfrom Serang, th e capital of Bantam,' w ith th e intentio nof going to Rankas-Betong, th e new cap ital of th e Lebakdistrict, you would be sure to reach your destination sometime or other. So i t was a road. I t is true you oftenstuck in th e mud, which in the Bantam lowlands is soheavy, clayey, and sticky, that travellers are often obligedto esk the assistance of the inhabitants of the villages inth e neighbourhood-even of those who are no t in th eneighbourhood, for villages are not numerous in theseregions;-but if you did succeed a t lest iu getting theassistance of a score of husbandm en, it did not take long

A Residency (province).


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52 M A X HAVELAAR.to get horses and carriage again on firm ground. Thecoachman smacked his whip, th e running boys-in Europeyou would call them, I think, " palfrenien,"-but no, youhave no thing in Europe which can give you an idea ofthese runn ing boys.-These incomparable runn iug boys,with their short thin switches, tearing alongside of thefour hones, making indescribable noises, and beating theho nes under the belly to encourage them , till-the vexa-tious moment arrived when th e c aniage once more sankin th e mud. Then the cry for help was renewed; youwaited till wsistan ce was proffered, and the n slowly re-sumed th e journey. Often when I passed that way, Iexpected to meet a carriage with travellers of the lastcentury, who had stuck in th e mud, and been forgotten.13ut this never happened to me. Therefore I suppose,th at every one who went th at way, arrived a t last a t hisdestination. You would be mistaken, if you thou ght th atall the roads i n Jav a were in the same bad state. Themilitary road with many branches, which Marshal Daen-dels constructed with great sacrifice of men, is indeed amasterpiece, and you are struck with wonder at theenergy of th e man, who, notw ithstanding many obstacles,

Herman Willem Daendela was born at Hattem (province of Gel-derland), October 21, 1762. His father was Burgomsster of Hattem.In 1787 he went to France, and in 1793 he took part in the expedi-tion into Flandera under General Dumonriez. Afterwards he enteredthe =mice of the Dutch Republic, and in 1799 distinguished himselfin the campaign against the Anglo-Russianarmy in North Holland. Het e n d e d his resignation in 1801. In 18U8 he was appoiuted Governor-


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MAX HAVELAAR. 53raised up by envious opponents at home, dared the die-pleasure of the population, the discontent of the chiefs,and succeeded in performing a task, that even now excitesand merits the admiration of every visitor.

No posbhorses in Europe, not even in England, Russia,or Hungary can be compared with thcxse of Java. Overlugh mountain ridges, along the brow of precipices thatmake you shudder, the heavy-laden travelling carriageflieson at full speed. The coachman sits on the box asif nailed to it, hours, yes, whole days successively, andswings the heavy lash with an iron hand. He can d-culate exactly where and how much he must restrain thegalloping horses, in order that, after descending at fullsped from a mountain declivity, he may on reaching thatcorner

"0 God" (cries the inexperienced weare going down a precipice, there's no road,-there '8 anabyss !" *

Yes, so it seem. The road bends, and just at the timewhen one more bound of tlie galloping animals wouldthrow the leaden off the path, the horses turn, and slingthe carriage round the corner. At full gallop they runGeneral of th e Dutch poseessiom in the Eaat In d ia . H e wm ap-pointedMargchal de 1'Empire in 1807. From 1808-1 811 h e governedthose co lonies. In 1811 he waa recalled by Napoleon I., who I lad in -corporated Holland. He took 1m-t in the cnmpaign of 1812 in Ilusais.In 1816 he waa appointed Governor of tlie Dutch paa aa ion s on thec o d of New Guinea, where he eb oh lie d the sla ve -tr de , and died in1818.


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54 MAX HAVELAAR.

up th e mountain height, which a monlent before wasullseen-and th e precipice is behind you. Sometimesthe carriage is only supported at the bend by thewheels on the inside of the curve: centrifugal force hasraised th e outside ones off th e ground. I t needs a greatdeal of coolness, no t to sh ut one's eyes, and whoevertravels for th e first tim e in Jav a, gellerally writes to hisfa m ly in Europe, th at he has been in danger of h is life;but he whose home is in J av a laughs at that.

Reader, it is not my intention, particularly a t th e com-mencement of th is history, to waste time in describingplaces, scenery, or buildingp-1 am too much afraid ofdisheartening you, by wh at would resemble prolixity ; andtherefore, until I feel that I have won your attention , tillI observe in your glances and in your countenance thatth e destiny of the heroine, who jum ps somewhere from afourth storey, interests yon, I shall not make her hover inth e air, wi th a bold contempt for al l the laws of gravita-tion, so long as is necessary for the accurate descriptior~ fth e beauty of th e landscape, or the building, t hat seems tobe put in somewhere to give occasion for a voluminousessay on m ed iav al architecture. All those castles reaembleeach other. They are invariably of heterogeneous archi-tecture ; he main building always dates from some earlierreign t,han th e wings w hich are added to i t afterwmdsunder th e reign of such an d such a king. The towersare in rr dilapidated s t a t e . * * Reader, there are no


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MAX HAVELAAR. 55

towers. A tower is an idea, a dream. The re are "halftowers," an d turrets. The fanaticism which wanted top u t towers to th e edifices th at were erected in honour ofthi s or th at saint, did not last long enough to finish them ;an d the spire, designed to point out heaven t o believers,is generally supported by two or three low battlements onth e huge base, which m akes you th ink of th e man withoutthighs a t th e fair. The towers of village churchea only,with their spires, are finished.

I t is not very flattering to W estern civilisation, tha t th eenthusiasm for an extensive work has very seldom pre-vailed long enough to see tha t work finished. I do notnow spe ak of unde rtakings whose completion was necea-sary to defray the expenses: whoever wants to knowexactly what I mean, must go and see the Cathedral atCologne. Le t him th ink of th e grand conception of th a tbuilding in the soul of th e architect;-of th e faith in thehearts of th e people, which furnished him with t h e meansto commence an d continue th a t labour ;-of th e influenceof th e ideas, which required such a colossus to serve as avisib le representation of unseen religious feeling-and le thim compare th at enthusiasm with t he train of ideas, th atsome centuries afterwards stopped th e labour.

There is a profound chasm between Erwin von Stein-bach and our architects l I know, that for many yearsthey have been occupied in filling up that chasm; atCologne too they are again working at the Cathedral.


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56 MAX HAVELAU(.But will they be able to join th e broken wire ; will theybe able to find ag& in our days, what constituted thepower of prelate and builder ?-I do not th in k so. Moneymay be contributed, stone and lime may be bought, adraughtsman may be paid to draw a plan, an d a mason tofix th e stones---but th e lost an d sti ll venerable faith,that saw in a n edifice a poem-a poem of granite, th a tspoke very loudly to the people-a poem in marble, tha tstood there as an immovable continual eternal prayer,cannot be purchased with money. * * *

There was one m orning an unusu al bustle on th e f r mtiers between Lebak and Pandaglang. H ~l ud reds f saddledhorses were on th e way, and a thousand men a t least, alarge num ber for that place, ran to and Ero in active ex-pectancy. There were th e chiefs of t h e villages, an d thedistrict chiefs of Lebak, all with their followers; andjudging from the beautiful Arab steed, that stood therein his rich caparison, a chief of great importance mus t bethere also. Such was the case. The Regen t of Lebak,RADEEN DHIPATTI,KARTA ATTANEGARA;had left Ran-kas-Betong with a numerous retinue, and notwithstandinghis great age had travelled the twelve or thirteen milesthat separated his residence from Pandaglang. A newAssistant Resident was coming; and custom, which has

"Radeen Adhipatti " is hi8 title, and " K a r b Natta Negnra" hisname.


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MAX HAVELAAH. 6 7the force of law in th e Indies m ore tha n m yw here else,will have i t tha t th e officer who is intrusted w ith th e ruleof a d istrict m ust be festively received on his arrival. TheController, too,was present. H e was a man of midd le age,and after the death of the last Assistant Resident, beingth e nex t in rank, had carried on th e government for somemonths.

As soon as th e arrival of t h e new Assistant Resident wasknown, a pendqpo was erected in great haate ; a tableand some chain brought there with some refreshments,and in tha t 'pend op po' the Regent, with th e Controller,awaited th e arrival of th e new chief. After a broad-brimmed h at, an umbrella, or a hollow tree, a 'pendoppo' iscertainly the most simple rep rese nh tion of t h e idea "roof."

Picture to youinelf four or six bamboo canes, driveninto the ground, tied together at th e top with other bam-boos, on which is placed a cover of the large leaves of th ewater-palm, called in these regions atap, and you willhave an idea of R U C ~ 'pendoppo.' I t is, as you see, assimple aa possible, and here it had only to serve as apLed-drtem.e, for th e European and native officials whowere there to welcome th eir new chief.

I t was not very correct of me to call th e Bssistan t Hesi-dent t he " ch ief " of th e Regent. I must explain themachinery of government in these regions. Th e so-called"Dutch India "-[I t l i h k the expression inaccurate, but i tis tlie official t e r m l - ~ ~ ar irs regards th e relati011 of it s


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58 MAX HAVELAAR.population to the mother country, must be divided intotwo very distinct great divisions.

One of these consists of tribes whose kings and princeshave been content to be tributary to Holland, bu t havenevertheless retained th e direct government, i n a greateror less degree, in their own hands. The other division, towhich th e whole of J av a belongs, with a very trifling, per-haps only apparent exception, is totally and directly sub-ject to Holland. There is here no question about tribute,tax, or alliance. The Javanese is a Dutch dyect . TheKing of Holland is his king. The descendants of hisformer princes and lor& are Duteh functionaries: theyar

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Max-Havelaar-Multatuli