“No. 153.
“Rankas-Betong, 15th April 1856.
“To the Controller of Lebak.
“You know that I have received at my own request an honourable discharge from the service of the Government by decree of 4th inst., No. 4. Perhaps I should have acted rightly, if, on the receipt of this decree, I had resigned my office of Assistant Resident immediately; as it seems to be an anomaly to fulfil a function without being a functionary.
“Yet I received no instructions to surrender my office, and partly from the idea of the obligation not to leave my post without being duly relieved, partly from causes of subordinate interest, I waited for the arrival of my successor, thinking that that functionary would arrive soon, at least this month.
“Now I hear from you that my successor may not be [[400]]expected so soon——you have, as I think, heard this news at Serang,—and at the same time that the Resident was astonished that I, in the very peculiar position in which I am, have not yet asked to be allowed to transfer the Government to you. Nothing could be more agreeable to me than this news, for I need not assure you, that I, who have declared myself unable to serve otherwise than I have done, who have been punished for this way of serving with censure,[2] with a ruinous and discreditable transfer, with an order to betray the poor men who confided in my good faith, with the choice also between dishonour and starvation … that I had to consider with pains and care, everything if it was in harmony with my duty, and that the most simple matter was difficult for me, placed as I was between my conscience and the principles of the Government, to which I owe fidelity as long as I am not freed from my functions. This difficulty showed itself principally in the reply which I had to give to plaintiffs.
“I had once promised to betray nobody to the rancour of his chiefs;—once I had, imprudently enough, given my word for the justice of the Government.
“The poor population could not know that this promise and this bail had been denied, and that I, poor and impotent, stood alone with my desire for justice and humanity.
“And people went on complaining. It was painful, [[401]]after the receipt of the missive of 23d March, to sit there as a supposed refuge, as a powerless protector.
“It was heart-rending to hear the complaints of ill-treatment, extortion, poverty, hunger, whilst I myself had, with a wife and child, to meet hunger and poverty!
“Neither could I betray the Government. I might not say to these poor people: ‘Go and suffer, for it is the will of the Government that you should suffer extortion.’ I might not avow my impotence, one as it was with the shame and unconscionableness of the Governor-General’s counsellors.
“Here is what I replied:
“ ‘I cannot help you immediately, but I will go to Batavia; I will speak to the Governor about your misery. He is just, and he will assist you. Go now quietly to your home; do not oppose, do not remove—wait patiently: I think, … I hope that justice will be done!’
“So I thought, ashamed as I was of the violation of my promise of help, to bring my ideas in harmony with my duty to the Government, which pays me still this month, and I would have continued thus till the arrival of my successor, if a particular occurrence had not obliged me to-day to put an end to this equivocal position. Seven persons had complained. I gave them the above-mentioned reply. They returned to their homes. The district chief met them on the way. He must have forbidden [[402]]them to leave their village again, and taken away (as I am told) their clothes, to oblige them to remain at home. One of them escaped, came to me again and declared ‘that he did not dare to return to his village.’
“What I ought to reply to this man, I did not know.
“I could not protect him;——I might not avow my impotence; I would not prosecute the accused chief, because this would have appeared as if the matter had been picked up by me, pour le besoin de ma cause I did not know what to do.…
“I charge you, until further instructions from the Resident of Bantam, with the Government of the district of Lebak, from to-morrow morning.—The Assistant Resident of Lebak,
(Signed) “Max Havelaar.”
Then Havelaar departed with wife and child from Rankas-Betong. He refused all escort. Duclari and Verbrugge were deeply touched at the leave-taking. Max was likewise moved; above all, when he found at the first stage a great number of persons who had gone secretly from Rankas-Betong to bid him a last farewell.
At Serang, the family was received into the house of Mr. Slymering, with the ordinary Indian hospitality.
In the evening many visitors came to the Resident. They said they had come to say farewell to Havelaar, and Havelaar received many an eloquent shake of the hand.… [[403]]
But he had to go to Batavia to speak to the Governor-General.
When they arrived there, he sought for an audience. This was refused him, because his Excellency had a pain in his foot.
Havelaar waited till the foot was cured. Then he again sought an audience.
His Excellency “had so much to do that he had been obliged to refuse an audience even to the Director-General of Finance, and could not see Havelaar.”
Havelaar waited till his Excellency should have struggled through all this; meanwhile he felt something like jealousy for the persons who had to help his Excellency in his labour, for he liked to work quickly and hard, and generally so much business disappeared under his hand. This was, however, out of the question. Havelaar’s labour was heavier than labour.… He waited.
He waited. At last he again sought an audience. He received an answer that his Excellency could not see him, as he had too much to do, being on the point of departure.