_June 10, 1902._[1]
Dutch has always been my favourite study, and many people say that I am
thoroughly at home in it. But heavens! fondness for a language is a very
long way from knowledge of it. Next to languages I like geology. I also
enjoy mathematics, but I am still struggling with the groundwork of
history. Not that I do not like history; I think it is interesting and
very instructive; but the manner in which it is set down in school-books
has little charm for me. I should like to have a teacher who knew how to
make the dry parts interesting. What I do think delightful, is ancient
history; it is a pity that so little of it has come my way. I should
love to study the history of the Egyptians, and of the old Greeks and
Romans.
We do not wish to make of our pupils half Europeans or European
Javanese. We want a free education, to make of the Javanese, above
everything, a strong Javanese. One who will be blessed with love and
enthusiasm for his own land and people, with a heart open to their good
qualities and to their needs.[2]
[1] To Mevrouw Abendanon.
[2] En somme Java est trop gouvernée. La remède est sous la main;
"Instruire les indigènes non pas avec l'idée d'en faire des Européens,
mais dans le but de les préparer à devenir les collaborateurs intimes de
ceux-ci." A. Fabert.