Volledige werken. Deel 24. Brieven en dokumenten uit het jaar 1887. Nagekomen brieven en dokumenten uit de jaren 1839-1886

[26 maart 1887
Herdenkingsartikel in The Athenaeum]

26 maart 1887

Herdenkingsartikel in The Athenaeum. (fotokopie M.M.)

[p. 360]

‘Multatuli’

Last month the distinguished writer passed away whose first book, published twenty-five years ago, excited an outburst of indignation throughout Holland. ‘Max Havelaar’ was the opus magnum of Eduard Douwes Dekker, who called himself ‘Multatuli’. He was born in 1820 at Amsterdam, and went to the East Indies in 1837; for seventeen years (1839-56) he was in the Government service there, and passed through the different grades until he was appointed ‘Assistant-Resident’ of Lebak (Amboina)^2. in 1856. His superiors entertained a high opinion of his abilities, and a brilliant career seemed to be before him. But at Lebak what he felt to be right clashed with the line of conduct he was expected to follow: he sent in his resignation, and in doing so sacrificed all his prospects. All this is told in ‘Max Havelaar’, which is an eloquent plea for humane treatment of the natives of the possessions of Holland in the East (an English translation of the book was published at Edinburgh by Messrs. Edmonston & Douglas). None of his accusations against the Dutch administration in the East has even been refuted; the book created a sensation, but things remained as they were. This was a bitter disappointment. In his following books (‘Minnebrieven’, ‘Ideeën’, ‘Millioenen-Studiën’) he wrote as a social reformer, and he has greatly influenced the ideas of his countrymen about religion, literature, &c. He attacked cant, shams, and red tape^1. with a power of sarcasm in which he had not an equal in Holland. His knowledge of the East was so great that he foretold the course of events of the last twenty years in the Dutch colonial dominions. His style is unique; he excels in pathos, humour, and argument. His individuality impressed itself so strongly on his readers that he left no one indifferent. Some have an admiration for his genius and character which has no bounds; others he inspired with a feeling of aversion by his self-assertion and tone of authority. For the last few years he had ceased to write, and lived in retirement at Nieder-Ingelheim, near Mayence. He died there of asthma on February 19^th.

2. Amboina: sic.

1. cant, shams and red tape: gehuichel, veinzerij en bureaukratie.