And if we suppose that the King is always well informed before he signs his august name at the foot of the document, in which he says he is convinced of “the good faith, the zeal, and the capacity” of the newly appointed Governor, even if we suppose that the new Viceroy is zealous, faithful, and able, then the question still remains, whether this zeal, and above all, this capacity, exist with him in a measure high enough elevated above mediocrity to satisfy the claims of his vocation.
For the question cannot be whether the man, who for the first time leaves the King’s cabinet at the Hague as Governor-General, possesses at that moment the capacity necessary for his new office,—that is impossible. By the declaration of confidence in his capacity can only be meant the belief, that he, in a quite different situation, on a given moment, shall know, as it were by intuition, what he could not have learnt at the Hague,—in other words, that he is a genius, a genius which suddenly must know and understand what before it neither knew nor understood. Such geniuses are rare, even among persons who are in favour with kings.
As I speak of geniuses, the reader will understand that I wish to omit what could be said of many a Governor. It would likewise disgust me to insert in my book pages that should expose the serious design of this work to the suspicion of hunting after scandal. I omit, therefore, the peculiarities that can only reach certain persons, but as a [[293]]general history of the malady of the situation of the Governors-General, I believe that I can give:—First period—Dizziness, Incense-drunkenness, Self-conceit, Immoderate self-confidence, Disdain of others, above all of persons who have been long in India. Second period—Fatigue, Fear, Dejection, Inclination to Sleep and Rest, Immoderate confidence in the Council of India, Home-sickness and desire for a Dutch country-seat.
Between these two periods, and as a sort of transition, perhaps as cause of this transition, there is Dysentery.
I trust that many persons in India will thank me for this diagnosis.
The application is very useful, for it may be accepted as very certain, that the patient, who through over-exertion in the first period, would choke at a gnat, would later, after the dysentery, swallow without difficulty a camel;—or, to speak more plainly, that a functionary who “accepts presents, not with the intention of enriching himself,”—for instance a bundle of pisang worth a few pence,—would, in the first period of the malady, be driven away with scorn and disgrace; but if that official has patience enough to wait for the second period, he may seize very calmly, and without any fear of punishment, the garden where the pisang grew, with the adjoining gardens, and the houses round, and what there may be in those houses, and other things … ad libitum. [[294]]
Every one may take advantage of this pathological philosophical observation, and keep secret my advice to prevent too much competition.…
A curse on it, that indignation and grief are so often clothed in the rags of satire! A curse on it, that a tear, to be understood, must be accompanied with a sneer!
Or is it the fault of my inexperience, that I seek in vain for words to name the depth of the wound that cankers in our Indian Government, without borrowing the style of Figaro or Punch? Style, … Yes! There are documents before me, in which there is style; style that showed that there was a man in the neighbourhood; a man, to whom it would have been worth the trouble to give a helping hand! And of what use was this style to poor Havelaar? He did not translate his tears into grins, he did not scoff, he did not endeavour to touch by a medley of colours or insipid farces; … of what use was it to him?
If I could write like him, I should write otherwise than he.