Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

“ If you ever wish to fortify your soul, go to the summit of a mountain, which is the place for earnest supplication in silence, awaken your firm and sincere heart, let there not be any dregs of your nature ”

“ Such a master may be justly called a superior mortal; for it is a difficult task to learn and to attend to the same, even as difficult as to catch and tame a wild elephant on the edge of a precipice without injury.
"Melancholy is it to see a young man of condition unacquainted with the sacred writings; for, be he ever so gracefully formed or elegant in his manners, he remains defective; like the wúrawári flower, which, notwithstanding its fine appearance and bright red colour, emits no fragrance whatever.
"No man can be called good or bad, until his actions prove him so. ”

“ Almost the only passion that can urge them to deeds of vengeance or assassination, is jealousy. The wound given to a husband's honour by seducing his wife, is seldom healed, the crime seldom forgiven; and what is remarkable, the very people who break the marriage tie on the slightest caprice, or the most vague pretence, are yet uncommonly watchful over it while it remains entire. ”

“ And what you say is like the sun and moon: in proportion as reverence is paid to the deity, men know that their supplication will be listened to, and the Batára become familiar and much attached. Your existence will be as bright as the sun and its splendour, which is evident, truly beautiful. When you die you will be guarded and aggrandized, and not without companions. Such will be his lot who seeks the good of the country, for he furthers the happiness of the people. ”

“ A good man, on the contrary, is like a sweet-scented tree, which continues to produce flowers and fruit, pleasant to the taste and smell of every one, and the fragrance of which remains in the wood even after the tree is cut down and rooted out.
"When a harlot begins to feel shame, then is her improvement approaching; but when a holy man begins to meddle with worldly affairs, then is he about to become a worldly man himself.
"When a prince allows encroachments to be made on his territories, it is a sign that the loss of both his court and lands is nigh at hand. ”

“ There is, perhaps, with the exception of the environs of Batavia and Bantam, no part of the island of Java which has so severely felt the bad effects of mismanagement as the district of Chéribon. These effects are visible in the character of the people, who, even among the Javans, are remarkable for a careless indifference to the pursuit of gain, for indolence, for want of energy, and for a credulity and ignorance, rendering them perpetually a prey to delusion. ”

“ These slaves are the property of the Europeans and Chinese alone: the native chiefs never require the services of slaves, or engage in the traffic of slavery. The Mahomedan laws, which regulate their civil condition, and permit this abomination in all its extent, are modified by the milder prejudices and more humane temper of the country. The Dutch, who, like us, valued themselves on their political liberty, are here the great promoters of civil servitude, and carried with them into their eastern empire, the Roman law regarding slavery in all its extent and rigour. ”

“ Of the causes which have tended to lower the character of the Asiatics in comparison with Europeans, none has had a more decided influence than polygamy. To all those noble and generous feelings, all that delicacy of sentiment, that romantic and poetical spirit, which virtuous love inspires in the breast of an European, the Javan is a stranger, and in the communication between the sexes he seeks only convenience, and little more than the gratification of an appetite. But the evil does not stop here: education is neglected and family attachments are weakened. ”

“ Married people who have no children ought to lead a retired life, and people without fortune should not attempt to make a shining appearance: they should look pale and melancholy, like unto the dullness and quiet of a country without a prince. ”

“ In the central and eastern districts, the country is comparatively well clothed with cultivation.
Quitting the low coast of the north, in many parts unhealthy, the traveller can hardly advance five miles inland without feeling a sensible improvement in the atmosphere and climate. As he proceeds, at every step he breathes a purer air and surveys a brighter scene. At length he reaches the highlands. Here the boldest forms of nature are tempered by the rural arts of man: stupendous mountains clothed with abundant harvest, impetuous cataracts tamed to the peasant's will. ”

“ The conduct of a Pandíta must be distinguished by mercy, charity, firmness, and prudence. His speech should be soft and gentle, and in accordance with and like unto written instruction, so as to moderate and calm the mind and desires of mankind.
It is mean and low for a rich man not to dress well: it is still more mean and low for a man of understanding to mix with bad company. So it is when a man attains a high age and knows not the Sástra; but when a man, through the whole course of his life, does not reflect upon his conduct, such a man is of no use in the world whatever. ”

“ A prince who wishes to know his subjects well, ought to be attentive to their manners, actions, and courage; and as gold is known by the touchstone, or broken into pieces in order to ascertain its intrinsic value, so ought a prince to try his subjects, before he intrust them with the charge of his women or treasure, and make himself acquainted with their valour and knowledge: for a person who does not possess the qualifications required for this purpose, is unworthy to associate with people of condition, and much less to be the servant of a prince. ”

“ Nothing can exceed the air of desolation which this spot presents; and the feelings of every visitor are attuned, by the scene of surrounding devastation, to reflect, that while these noble monuments of the ancient splendour of religion and the arts are submitting, with sullen slowness, to the destructive hand of time and nature, the art which raised them has perished before them, and the faith which they were to honour has now no other honour in the land. ”

“ For a period of nearly five years, in which I have had the honour, as a servant of the East India Company, to preside over a mild and simple people, it has been my pride and my ambition to make known to them the justice and benevolence of my Prince, whose intentions towards them I could only fulfil by acting up to the principles of the Authority which I represented, and by doing every thing in my power to make them happy. ”

“ Words proceeding from the mouth are vain to the utmost, their effect not to be depended on. The devotion of a pure heart is like moonshine, not hot but cool and delightful; the beauties you see in which the stars are scattered over as though in attendance on the moon, adding to the grandeur of the scene. ”

“ Having had in view all the way one lofty pyramidal or conical ruin, covered with foliage, and surrounded by a multitude of much smaller ones, in every stage of humbled majesty and decay, you find yourself, on reaching the southern face, very suddenly between two gigantic figures in a kneeling posture, and of terrific forms, appearing to threaten you with their uplifted clubs; their bulk is so great, that the stranger does not readily comprehend their figure. ”

“ As the young plant advances, their deep rich foliage contrasts pleasingly with its lighter tints; and when the full-eared grain, with a luxuriance that exceeds an European harvest, invests the earth with its richest yellow, they give a variety to the prospect, and afford a most refreshing relief to the eye. The clumps of trees, with which art attempts to diversify and adorn the most skilfully arranged park, can bear no comparison with them in rural beauty or picturesque effect.
As the population increases, the extent of individual appropriations is sometimes contracted ”

“ But what is to be expected from a country, where the natives are so treated, so oppressed? To-day the Javan is ordered to plant his garden with coffee trees: he does so, and although well aware how little he will get for the fruit, he sees them grow up with pleasure, considering their produce as a tribute which he must pay to his master for enjoyment of protection; but now, when they are about to bear fruit, he is ordered to root them out: he does so, and four months afterwards he is again ordered to plant others! Can a more infamous tyranny be imagined? ”

“ Our own country, and all the kingdoms of Europe, afford the most direct proofs of this: they flourish in proportion as property is more or less secure and equally divided among the inhabitants of each. All Europe groaned under the feudal system of government: all Europe has freed itself from it; but by various means and in different degrees. Why, therefore, can similar changes not be brought about on Java? Every thing urges us to make them, and the results must be important and most advantageous to us. Java is alone able to relieve our commonwealth from all its difficulties. ”

“ Batára gúru is cool, still colder is the moon; but the coolness of neither is to be compared to that which is instilled by the voice of a holy man. Fire is hot, still hotter is the sun; but neither is to be compared to the heat of a man's heart. ”

“ Where force decides right, no sovereign is possessed of paramount authority to sweep this pest from his shores; no vessel is safe, no flag is respected. The trade is thus confined to desperate adventurers only, to whom the existence of piracy is more advantageous than the unmolested security of navigation, as the danger which it creates drives away all competitors of a less daring character, and gives them a monopoly of these ports. It is too true, also, that European traders have materially contributed to the strength of the pirates, by the supply of arms and ammunition. ”

“ But a good prime minister is he who is upright in his heart, moderate in his fear of the prince, faithfully obedient to all his orders, kind-hearted, not oppressive to the people, and always exerting himself to the utmost for the happiness of the people and the welfare of the country. ”

“ But, alas! these unhappy people have not as yet reached the end of their sufferings; an obdurate purchaser, deaf to all the pleadings of distress, will be prepared coolly to make his advantage of it, and proportionally to enhance the ransom of his victim, till, by extorting an exorbitant price, he may plunge the unhappy relative from a moderate property into indigence, or, which is still worse, burden him with debts, which, sooner or later, will reduce himself, and perhaps his whole family, to slavery! ”

“ Sometimes clear, sometimes obscure, yes, such indeed let your situation be, so that the train of your actions may become most direct and manifest, as by day the sun lights all places, so their benefit be not thrown away, and you may cast off care and sorrow. Truly the departure of life is most uncertain. Human nature, when it will not receive advice, is like a stony plain without grass, animals will not approach, all remain at a distance from it. ”

“ The comparison which has been drawn by the Javans themselves of their own character, in contrast with that of the Dutch, may serve to illustrate the nature of the military feeling still existing in the country. "The Dutch," say they, "are superior to the Javans, inasmuch as they have good heads; they can calculate, and they understand policy better, but then they have cold hearts: the Javans are poor simple beings, but they love their country and will never quit it; their heart glows and often burns." ”

“ When you have arrived at the end of life your body will be corrupt, it cannot be otherwise: yes, all are earth. When alive, people gather together wherewithal to bury their body, so that it mix not with the earth, and that is only by paying reverence to the Batára. All that live in the world are not like mankind, who have been given wisdom and excellence by the Batára. Although the rátu (king) lion is said to be the chief of animals, yet he is held captive by man: the same with the garuda, the king of birds, which resides in the air, it is likewise subject to the commands of man. ”