of it. He and the whole Batak population had only recently been converted by the Padrees[1] to the true faith, and new converts are usually fanatical.
“The consequence of this real or supposed discovery was that Yang di Pertooan was arrested by the Assistant-Resident of Mandhéling, and sent to Natal. Here the Controller provisionally locked him up in the fortress, and subsequently had him transported to Padang as a prisoner in the first available ship. It is obvious that all the documents were handed to the Governor which contained such incriminating evidence, and which were to be the justification for the severity of the measures taken. Our friend Yang di Pertooan then had left Mandhéling as a prisoner. At Natal he was a prisoner. He therefore expected—guilty or not guilty, which made no difference to the case, as he had been charged with high treason by competent authority—that at Padang also he would arrive as a prisoner. Surely then he must have been somewhat astonished to learn on disembarking that not only was he free, but that the General, whose carriage was waiting for him when he landed, would count it an honour to receive him and offer him hospitality in his house. No man accused of high treason has probably ever received a pleasanter surprise. Shortly after, the Assistant-Resident of Mandhéling was suspended from office on the charge of several offences on which I wish to pronounce no opinion. Yang di Pertooan, on the other hand, after having stayed with the General some time, and having been treated by him with the greatest distinction, returned by Natal to Mandhéling, not with the self-respect of one declared innocent, but with the pride of one so exalted in position that he required no declaration of innocence. For the matter had not even been investigated! Assuming that the charge preferred against him was held to be false, then this very suspicion should have made an examination requisite, in order to punish the false witnesses, and more particularly the persons who should be proved to have invited
- ↑ A section of the Atchinese.
