Translation:Max Havelaar/38

Havelaar left with wife and child from Rangkas-Betoeng. He refused all company. Duclari and Verbrugge said goodbye very emotionally. Max was sad too, in particular when he reached the first station and found a numerous crowd, which all had left Rangkas-Betoeng to see him for the last time.

In Serang the family visited Mr Sliming, who received them with the normal Indian hospitality.

At dusk there were many visitors in the Resident's house. They said that they had come to greet Havelaar and Max shook many kind hands.

But he had to go to Batavia to see the Governor-General.

After arrival he asked for an audience. This was refused because there was an ulcer on His Excellency's foot.

Havelaar waited till the ulcer had healed and once more he asked to be heard.

His Excellency was so busy that he even refused the Minister of Finances an audience, so he could not receive Havelaar either.

Havelaar waited till His Excellency would have fought through that business. In the meantime he felt jealousy for the people who worked with His Excellency. Forhe liked to work much and quickly, and usually, when he was busy, this melted away under his hand. Of course this was not the case here. Havelaar's labour was heavier than labour: he waited!

He waited. Once more he asked to be heard. The reply was that His Excellency could not receive him, because he was preparing for his coming departure.

Max insisted to have the favour of His Excellency and be heard one hour, as soon as there was a little space between two busy moments.

At last he heard that His Excellency would leave the following day. It was like a clap of thunder! Still he clung to the belief that the resigning viceroy was a honest man, and that he had been misinformed, A quarter of an hut would have been sufficient to prove the righteousness of his case, and it appeared that he even did not obtain this quarter of an hour.

I find in Havelaar's documents the minute of a letter he wrote to the resigning Governor-General, on the last evening, before his departure to the mother country. On the edge is a pencil remark: "not right", so I presume that he changed some things when he copied the letter. I should remark this, so that the reader will not doubt the correctness of the other official documents which I copied in this book, and which have all been signed as exact copies. Perhaps the man to whom the letter was addressed, wanted to publish the authentic text. By comparison one might see what differences Havelaar made with the minute. The correct letter was thus:
 * Batavia, 23 May 1856.
 * Excellency! In a missive of 28 February I requested to be heard about the matters of Lebak, and this has remained unanswered.
 * Furthermore it did not please your Excellency to reply to my repeated requests for an audience.
 * The result is that Your Excellency has lowered a man about whom there were always favourable reports – these are Your Excellency's own words – who served his country in these areas for seventeen years, who did nothing wrong, but attempted with unknown self-denial to do well and offered everything for his honour and duty, to a rank which is lower than a criminal. For a criminal is heard.
 * It is my understanding that Your Excellency has been misinformed. But I do not understand that Your Excellency did not grasp the opportunity to be better informed.
 * Tomorrow Your Excellency intends to leave, but I do not want to let him leave without having said once more that I did my duty, just and only my duty, with sensed, consideration, charity, meekness and courage.
 * The reasons, that are mentioned in Your Excellency's missive of 23 March, to which your Excellency's rejection was based, are completely fictitious and lied.
 * I can prove this, and it would have happened if Your Excellency would five me only a half hour. Just one hour of time to do justice!
 * It has not happened, and thus a distinguished family has been reduced to beggary. But this is not what I complain about.
 * But Your Excellency has sanctioned: the system of misuse of authority, of robbery and murder, under which the poor Javanese suffers, and that's what I complain about.
 * This cries to heaven!
 * There is blood on the received money of your thus received wages of the Indies, Your Excellency!
 * Once more I beg you for an audience, a short moment, this night, tomorrow morning. And again I ask this not for myself, but for the case for which I fight, the case of righteousness and humanity, which is also the case of well-understood politics.
 * If Your Excellency can leave this place without hearing me, I can only say that my conscience will be clear, I am convinced to have done anything to prevent the sad, bloody events, which will soon occur because the government is misinformed by those who know what happens under the population.
 * MAX HAVELAAR."

Havelaar waited that evening. He waited the entire night.

He had hoped that the Governor-General would be so angry about the tone of the letter, with the result that it achieved what could not be achieved with meekness and patience. This hope was idle. The Governor-General left without hearing Havelaar. Another Excellency had retired in the mother country!

Havelaar wandered round, poor and lost. He searched...

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It is enough, my good Stern! I, Multatuli, take up the pen. You were not called to write Havelaar's life history. I called you to life – I let you come from Hamburg – I taught you to write in Dutch, reasonably well, in a short time – I let you kiss Louise Rosemeijer, who is a sugar trader. It is enough Stern. You can go!

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That Shawlman and his wife...

Shut up, you terrible product of filthy avarice and blasphemous pseudo-friendliness! I created you – you grew up to a monster under my pen – I find my own creature disgusting. Choke on coffee and begone!