naries.

Of late years, however, a more generous policy has prevailed. As the
mass of the Javanese regard the native princes as traitors and
apostates, the Arab priests and hadjis have come to be recognized as the
popular leaders. It is they, and not the princes, who now form the
dangerous element. The priests are jealous of European influence, and
are ready to incite the natives to revolt if occasion offers, but in any
outbreak the native princes are the first to be attacked. A revolt in
Bantam had occurred some twelve months before the date of my visit
(1890). In return for some injustice, the Resident and his wife and
children were put to death by mutilation. The village in which this took
place was near Serang, the capital town of Bantam, and only seventy
miles from Batavia, and military assistance was obtained from both of
these places. The troops from Serang arrived in time to find the body of
the Resident's wife still heaving with the action of breathing. Fifty
or sixty of the natives were brought to justice for this murder, and six
of the ringleaders were shot. I was told that there were numerous secret
societies existing in the country, controlled by the Mohammedan
authorities in Arabia, and absolutely hidden beyond the reach of the
Government.[7]

The question of the moral and mental development of the Javanese natives
is one which has lately been much discussed, both in Java and in
Holland, and the result has been that the Colonial Government is now
fairly pledged to a humanitarian policy. The large sum annually
appropriated in the colonial budget to the purposes of public
instruction, is a sufficient evidence of the reality of the desire now
manifested by the Dutch to give the natives of Java full opportunities
for the education and training necessary for technical and industrial
progress. There can be no doubt as to the capacity of the natives to
benefit by such advantages. When D'Almeida visited the island thirty
years ago, he paid a visit to Raden Saleh, a native artist, who had been
sent to Holland to be educated there at the expense of the Colonial
Government. He had lived for twenty-three years in Europe, residing both
in that country and in Germany, and following the profession of an
artist. He was chiefly distinguished as an animal-painter, and made such
progress in art that he was commissioned by the late Prince Consort to
paint two pictures for him, illustrative of Javan life and scenery.
Raden S