and Minister of Colonial Affairs Jan Jacob Rochussen, his former Governor-General, to resign his post, in part because a corruption scandal in the East Indies came to light. In that same year he promoted his friend Multatuli's Max Havelaar, announcing in parliament that the book had sent tremors through the country. On 1 July 1862, he was appointed to the Council of State of the Netherlands, where he served until his death in The Hague on 10 February 1879. His wife died on 9 January 1888. Legacy Van Hoëvell, deemed a "radical" for his opinions, stands alongside Dirk van Hogendorp as one of the most important and best-known Dutch anti-colonialists of the nineteenth century before Multatuli—he is regarded as one of Multatuli's predecessors. He was a passionate man, who felt it his duty to inform the Dutch citizenry of the arrogance of the Dutch colonial rulers, the widespread corruption among the native ruling classes, and the imposition of backbreaking labor on the local peasantry. Moreover, according to van Hoëvell, the colonial system harmed relationships between peoples. These were themes that were also discussed by Multatuli in his Max Havelaar. Van Hoëvell's efforts to abolish slavery, especially his 1854 book Slaves and free people under Dutch law, are credited with having hastened the emancipation of Dutch-owned slaves in the East Indies in 1859 and in the West Indies in 1863. The book is included in the Canon of Dutch Literature. Publications Geschiedkundig overzicht van de beoefening van kunsten en wetenschappen in Nederlands-Indië ("History of the practice of arts and sciences in the Dutch East Indies"). 1839. Episode uit de geschiedenis van Neerlands-Indië ("Episode from the history of the Dutch East Indies"). 1840. Sjaïr Bidasari. Oorspronkelijk Maleisch gedicht met een vertaling en aanteekeningen ("Originally Malay poem with translation and notes"). Batavia, 1844. Beschuldiging en veroordeling in Indië en rechtvaardiging in Nederland ("Accusation and condemnation in the Indies and justification in the Netherlands"). 1850 De drukpers en de Javanen ("The printing press and the Javanese"). 1851. Slaven en vrijen onder de Nederlandsche wet ("Slaves and free people under Dutch law"). 1854. Reis over Java, Madura en Bali in het midden van 1847 ("A journey across Java, Madura, and Bali in mid-1847"). 1850. Uit het Indische leven ("From life in the Indies"). 1860. Second edition printed in 1865. See also Dutch Indies literature References Notes Bibliography External links Biographical links W.R. van Hoëvell, in