Max Havelaar;

by Multatuli

“According to the evidence of witnesses examined by the Controller of Natal, that chief, together with his brother, Soetan Adam, would have summoned Battah [[241]]chiefs to assemble in a sacred grove, where they were to swear not to rest before the power of the Christian dogs in Mandhéling was destroyed. Of course, he had received an inspiration from heaven to this effect: you know this qualification is never wanting on such occasions.

“Whether such was the intention of Jang di Pertoean, I cannot say for certain; I read the evidence; but you will see why implicit reliance was not to be placed on it. It is certain that he, with his Islam fanaticism, was quite capable of such a project.

“He, with the whole population of Battah, had recently been converted by the paderies[5] to the true faith; and new converts are generally fanatical.

“The consequences of this true or supposed discovery was, that Jang di Pertoean was apprehended and conveyed to Natal, where the Controller shut him up in the fortress and sent him by sea, on the first opportunity, to the Governor of the west coast of Sumatra at Padang, to whom were submitted the documents, in which the heavy accusations had been set forth that justified the severity of the measures already taken. Jang di Pertoean had thus left Mandhéling as a prisoner; at Natal he was kept in confinement on board the man-of-war that had transported him thither; he expected, therefore,—innocent or not, because he had been accused in legal form of high treason—to arrive at Padang as a prisoner; and he must certainly [[242]]have been astonished to learn, on landing, not only that he was free, but that the General, whose carriage awaited him on shore, would consider it as an honour to receive him into his house and lodge him. Certainly never was a person accused of high treason more agreeably surprised. A short time afterwards, the Assistant Resident of Mandhéling was suspended from his office because of all sorts of deficiencies, about which I do not care to express an opinion. Now Jang di Pertoean, who, after having been for some time at Padang in the General’s house, and treated by him with the utmost distinction, returned through Natal to Mandhéling, not with the self-esteem of one found innocent, but with the arrogance of a person who stands so high that he needs no declaration of innocence. Indeed, the matter had not been examined; and, suppose that the accusations brought against him were thought to be false, why, this very suspicion ought to have required an examination, to punish the false witnesses, and those who had induced them to tell such falsehoods. It appears that the General found reasons why this examination should not take place. The accusation against Jang di Pertoean was considered as “non-avenue,” and I am sure that the documents relating to the matter have never been submitted to the eyes of the Government of Batavia.

“A few days after the return of Jang di Pertoean, I arrived at Natal, to take in hand the government of that [[243]]district. My predecessor told me, of course, what had just happened in Mandhéling, and gave me the necessary information as to the political condition of that province in relation to my department. It could not be taken amiss, that he complained much of the (in his eyes) unjust treatment which his father-in-law had had to undergo, and of the incomprehensible protection which Jang di Pertoean appeared to receive from the General. Neither he nor I was acquainted at that time with the fact that the sending of Jang di Pertoean to Batavia was a blow aimed at the General’s face, and that he had good reasons, whatever they might be, to guarantee that chief against a charge of high treason. This was of so much the more importance to the General, because the Government Commissioner, mentioned above, had become in the meanwhile Governor-General, and probably would have recalled him from his government, from displeasure at the unfounded confidence in Jang di Pertoean, and the obstinacy founded upon that,—with which the General had opposed the evacuation of the East coast.

“ ‘But,’ said my predecessor, ‘whatever may move the General to admit all the accusations against my father-in-law, and yet not to think worth an examination the much heavier accusations against Jang di Pertoean——this matter is not yet ended! And if at Padang, as I suppose, the sworn evidence has been destroyed, I have here something else that cannot be destroyed.’

And he showed me a sentence of the Court of Justice [[244]]at Natal, of which he was president, containing the condemnation of a certain Si Pamaga to the penalty of flogging, branding, and, I believe, twenty years’ hard labour, for attempting to murder the Toeankoe[6] (an Indian functionary) of Natal.

“ ‘Read the procès-verbal of the session,’ said my predecessor, ‘and then you may judge whether my father-in-law will be believed at Batavia, when he there accuses Jang di Pertoean of high treason!’

“I read the documents. According to declarations of witnesses, and the confession of the defendant, he had been bribed by Si Pamaga to murder at Natal the Toeankoe, his guardian Soetan, and the governing Controller. In order to execute this design, he had gone to the house of the Toeankoe, and had there commenced a conversation about a Sewah,[7] with the servants who sat on the staircase of the inner-gallery, intending thereby to prolong his stay till he perceived the Toeankoe, who actually made his appearance very soon, surrounded by a number of relations and servants. Pamaga had fallen upon the Toeankoe with his ‘sewah,’ but, from unknown circumstances, had not been able to execute his criminal design. The Toeankoe, much frightened, jumped out of the window, and Pamaga fled; he hid himself in the wood, and was a few days afterwards taken by the Natal police. [[245]]

“When the accused was asked what had moved him to this assault, and the intended murder of Soetan Salim and the Controller of Natal, he replied ‘that he had been bribed to that by Soetan Adam, in the name of his brother Jang di Pertoean of Mandhéling.’