constance atténuante’ would disappear if you, continuing longer with me, and serving the Government under my orders, should go on to follow the course against which I set myself.
“You may have observed that I have omitted the title Right Honourable,’[1]—it annoyed me. Do the same to me, and let our honourableness, where it is necessary, come forward in another manner than by this annoying style, spoiling the use of titles.—The Assistant Resident of Lebak,
The reply to this letter was an accusation against some of Havelaar’s predecessors, and proved that he was not very wrong in quoting the bad examples of former times amongst the reasons that pleaded as an excuse for the Regent.
In communicating this letter I have departed from the order of time, to make it at once obvious how little help Havelaar could expect from the Controller, as soon as quite different and more important transactions were to he called by their right names, when the latter, who was without doubt a good man, had to be addressed in this way about telling the truth, when the question was only to
- ↑ Right Honourable is by no means a good translation of the Dutch “WelEdelGestrenge.” It is impossible to translate this into English, just ag “Right Worshipful” could hardly be translated into Dutch without becoming ridiculous.
