That is a noble vocation. To maintain justice, to protect the poor against the powerful, to defend the weak [[72]]against the superior power of the strong, to recover the ewe-lamb from the folds of the kingly robber:—well, all this makes your heart glow with pleasure at the idea that it is your lot to have so noble a vocation;—and let any one in the interior of Java, who may be sometimes discontented with his situation or pay, consider the sublime duty which devolves upon him, and the glorious delight which the fulfilment of such a duty gives, and he will not be desirous of any other reward. But that duty is by no means easy. In the first place, one has exactly to consider where the use ends, to make room for abuse;—and where the abuse exists, where robbery has indeed been committed by the exercise of arbitrary power, the victims themselves are, for the most part, accomplices, either from extreme submission, or from fear, or from distrust of the will or the power of the man whose duty it is to protect them. Every one knows, that the European officer can be summoned every moment to another employment, and that the Regent, the powerful Regent, remains there. Moreover, there are so many ways of appropriating the property of a poor ignorant man. If a mantrie[10] says to him that the Regent wants his horse, the consequence is, that the wished-for animal is soon found in the Regent’s stables; but this does not mean that the Regent does not intend to pay handsomely for it some time or other. If hundreds [[73]]of people labour on the fields of a chief, without getting money for it, this is no proof that he makes them do so for his benefit. Might it not have been his intention to give them the harvest, having made the philanthropic calculation that his fields were more fertile than theirs, and would much better reward their labour?
Besides, where could the European officer get witnesses having the courage to give evidence against their lord the Regent? And, if he ventured to make an accusation without being able to prove it, where would be the relation of elder brother, who, in such a case, would have impeached his younger brother’s honour? Where would he then find the favour of the Government, which gives him bread for service, but which would take that bread from him, which would discharge him as incapable, if he rashly accused so high a personage as an “Adhipatti” or “Pangerang?”
No, no, that duty is by no means easy! This can be proved by the fact—apparent to every one—that each native chief pushes too far the limit of the lawful disposal of labour and property; that all Assistant Residents take an oath to resist this, and yet that very seldom a Regent is accused for abuse of power or arbitrary conduct.
It seems also that there must be an insurmountable difficulty in keeping the oath: “TO PROTECT THE NATIVE POPULATION AGAINST EXTORTION AND TYRANNY.” [[74]]
[1] A Residency (province). [↑]
[2] Herman Willem Daendels was born at Hattem (province of Gelderland), October 21, 1762. His father was Burgomaster of Hattem. In 1787 he went to France, and in 1793 he took part in the expedition into Flanders under General Dumouriez. Afterwards he entered the service of the Dutch Republic, and in 1799 distinguished himself in the campaign against the Anglo-Russian army in North Holland. He tendered his resignation in 1801. In 1808 he was appointed Governor-General [[53]]of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies. He was appointed Maréchal de l’Empire in 1807. From 1808–1811 he governed those colonies. In 1811 he was recalled by Napoleon I., who had incorporated Holland. He took part in the campaign of 1812 in Russia. In 1815 he was appointed Governor of the Dutch possessions on the coast of New Guinea, where he abolished the slave-trade, and died in 1818. [↑]
[3] “Radeen Adhipatti” is his title, and “Karta Natta Negara” his name. [↑]