Translation:Max Havelaar/35

The next day Havelaar received a letter from the Resident of Bantam. Its contents can be concluded from the reply which follow below:
 * Number 93. Secret. Rangkas-Betoeng, 28 February 1856.
 * I had the honour to receive your urgent missive of 26 of this month, secret, containing the information:
 * that you had a good reason to reject my suggestions, as mentioned in my official letters of 24 and 25 of this month, numbers 88 and 91;
 * that you desired confidential information in advance;
 * that you do not agree with my acts, as described in both letters;
 * and finally a few orders.
 * I now have the honour, as happened during our conversation the day before yesterday, you assure you again, although it is redundant by now:
 * that I respect your legal authority completely, and you have the right to accept or reject my suggestions;
 * that received orders must be adhered to, exactly, perhaps even with self-denial, as if you were there, watching everything I do and say, or better, watching everything I don't do and don't say.
 * I know that you trust my loyalty in this aspect.
 * But I take the liberty to protest seriously against the slightest appearance of disapproval of anything I did, any word, any sentence which I have done, spoken or written in this matter.
 * I am convinced that I did my duty in purpose and way of execution, completely my duty, nothing but my duty, without any departure.
 * I considered long before I acted – that is, before I investigated, reported and suggested – and if I made some error, it was not by to great hurry.
 * In similar circumstances I would have done the same – but a bit faster – exactly, completely the same.
 * Even if a higher authority than yours disapproved of what I did – except perhaps the peculiarity of my style which is part of my person, for which I consider myself as responsible as a stammerer for his way of speaking – even in that case – but no, it cannot be, if it were so: I did my duty!
 * I am sorry to find – but it does not really astonish me – that you judge otherwise, and as far as regards my person, I would immediately resign myself to what appears to be an error to me – but there is a principle in the game, and my conscience requires that someone decided which opinion is right – yours or mine.
 * I am unable to serve otherwise that I did in Lebak. If the government requires a different service, I must ask you, being an honest man, to fire me. At the age of 36 years I will try to find a different career. After 17 years, 17 hard years of service, after giving the best powers of my life to what I considered to be my duty, I'll ask the Society again to give me bread for my wife and my child, bread in exchange for my ideas, bread perhaps in exchange for labour with wheelbarrow and spade, if the power of my arm is considered better that the power of my soul.
 * But I can and will not believe that your opinion will be shared by His Excellency the Governor-General, and therefore it is my obligation, before I go to the bitter end, mentioned in the previous paragraph, to ask you to suggest the Government:
 * to write to Resident of Bantam, and yet to approve with the acts of the Assistant-Resident of Lebak, referring to his missives of 24 and 25 of this month, numbers 88 and 91.
 * Or:
 * to call said Assistant-Resident to reply to the points of rejection, as mentioned by the Resident of Bantam.
 * I have the honour to give you the thankful assurance that if anything could cause me to draw back my principles – I considered them long and quietly, but I ardently stick tot hem – truly, it would have been the true and kind way we spoke abut it the day before yesterday.
 * The Assistant-Resident of Lebak,
 * MAX HAVELAAR."