Yet he would save, restore—not destroy. He had sympathy with the Regent; he who knew how want of money oppresses, above all where it leads to humiliation and scorn, sought for reasons to avoid the unpleasant duty. The Regent was old, and the head of a family that lived magnificently in neighbouring provinces, where much coffee was reaped,[1] and where many emoluments were enjoyed. Was it not grievous for him to be so far behind his younger relatives in style of living?
Moreover he was fanatical, and thought whilst his years advanced to be able to purchase the welfare of his soul by paying for pilgrimages to Mecca, and by giving alms to prayer-singing idlers.
The functionaries who had preceded Havelaar in Lebak had not always shown a good example, and finally, the extensiveness of the Lebak family of the Regent, that lived entirely at his expense, made it very difficult for him to return to the right path.
Therefore Havelaar sought for reasons to delay all severity, and to try once more, and still once more, what could be done by gentle means.
And he went further still than kindness. With a generosity which reminded him of the faults that had made him
- ↑ The Dutch Government has its coffee-gardens. If a Regent encourages labour in these gardens, or better still, compels men and women to work for nothing in the government gardens,—these government gardens will produce much coffee, and the Regent receives a certain percentage, so much for every pical.
