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Bentley's Miscellany XXV (1849)pp.71-83
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POSITION OF SIR JAMES BROOKE IN THEINDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,
BY JAMES AUGUSTUS ST. JOHN,
AUTHOR OF “THE HISTORY OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OFANCIENT GREECE,” ETC.
WITH A PORTRAIT BY FRANCIS GRANT, A.R,A.
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A great deal has lately been written on the progress of events in the Indian Archipelago, on the position of the English and the Dutch, and on that vast system of piracy which obstructs themovements of commerce. The adversaries of Sir James Brooke are of course interested inunderrating the force of the buccaneers, because, should the plan of operations he recommends prove successful, they will be able to disparage his efforts, by maintaining he had no veryformidable obstacles to overcome. There is another class of persons deeply interested in extenuatingor concealing the dangers incurred by those who navigate the Eastern seas; the projectors, I mean,of trading schemes, who, though they owe all their chances of success to the presence of Sir JamesBrooke in the Archipelago, would be glad to see his services forgotten, and the objects of hislegitimate ambition completely frustrated.Here at home, a majority of people must always look upon the events which take place in theArchipelago rather with curiosity than with any deeper feeling. They love to hear or read of theexploring of new regions, of perilous adventures, of expeditions by sea or land. How theunobtrusive merchant may fare they pause not to inquire. Consequently, if you would arrest their attention and compel them to sympathise with the representatives of British civilisation in thatremote and comparatively little known portion of the globe, you must be able to shew that thesituation which our countrymen there occupy is encompassed with difficulties and dangers. Theamount of these will be estimated differently by different men. Some, enveloped in completeselfishness, can appreciate no peril to which they are not themselves exposed; others have a naturaldisposition to diminish whatever is distant; while others conceive it to be philosophical to affectindifference in all matters of this kind and to mask their real opinions beneath the language of moderation and reserve.According to a certain class of writers there is not much left for Great Britain to accomplish inthat part of Asia. The Dutch and the Spaniards, they say, divide all the islands between them, thelatter possessing half, and the former claiming more than the remainder; but Brooke is not of thisopinion. He finds, and the authorities here at home would seem to agree with him, that large portions of the Archipelago are still independent, and that an immense field consequently exists for the extension of British commerce and enterprise. But properly to lay open this field is a task far from easy. Doubtless no obstacle impedes the settlement of such matters on paper, when the writer makes what he pleases of facts, distorts everything to suit his own convenience, annihilates millions by a stroke of the pen, converts fertile plains into deserts, mountains into morasses, and envelopestribes and nations in the close meshes of a diplomacy. Which exists nowhere but in his own fancy.Practically, however, very serious embarrassments are found to exist; and if the Rajah of Sarawak succeed, as I have every reason to believe he will, in completely removing them, the country willowe him a deep debt of gratitude, and history will record with satisfaction his sagacity, his courageand perseverance, and the honours which must inevitably be their reward.
 
I formerly, with the aid of the Rajah's own early journals, drew a rapid sketch of his career 
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up tohis arrival in this country in the autumn of 1847
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. During his short stay what honours were paidhim
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, what admiration he excited, what hopes and aspirations kindled in the breast of thousandsmost people will remember. On the 1
st
of February last, he again quitted England in order once moreto establish himself on the scene of his former achievements, and reached Singapore early in May.There he and the other members of the government of Labuan were received with enthusiasm, andtreated with the utmost distinction
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. Whatever may be the case here in Europe. Sir James Brooke is properly appreciated beyond the Straits of Malacca, where neither envy nor jealousy can deny thewisdom of the projects be has originated for the honour of his country, and the redemption of millions of bis fellow-creatures from cruelty, tyranny, oppression, and the grossest possible slavery both of body and mind. Among naval and military men he has always been held in high admiration.Adventurous themselves, they know how to estimate the spirit of adventure in him, and, very muchto their credit, they have always been willing to recognise his merits and to do justice to hisdistinguished services. While the Rajah remained at Singapore several steps were taken towardsconverting the island of Labuan into a proper receptacle for civilised men. The jungle was clearedaway in the neighbourhood of the site of the projected city; vessels thronged to the port; labourers passed over from the main island, and every thing proceeded with rapidity and success. Somesymptoms of sickness were said to have made their appearance, but these were not consideredformidable and excited no particular alarm. Meanwhile, signs of extraordinary uneasiness werevisible in the Netherland authorities throughout the Archipelago where their paramount influencewas evidently about to slip from their hands. Secretly, no doubt, they attribute the disasters whichhave recently befallen them to our unwelcome presence in their vicinity; and it is more than probable that both the Balinese and people of Sulu have been encouraged to treat them withcontempt, by reliance — whether ill or well founded, — on our countenance and protection.However this may be, it is quite certain that the arms of Holland have lately been unable to makeany impression on the people of Bali, who, animated by the spirit of independence, and confiding inthe justice of their cause, have boldly met the Dutch in the field and driven them ignominiouslyfrom their island. How far it may suit the views of England to interfere in that part of theArchipelago I cannot pretend to determine, but so far as appears at present the Dutch are mereintruders in Bali, on which they have no more genuine claims than on Lucon or Magindanao. ButHolland obviously imagines that so far from home there is no necessity for practising justice, or  paying any attention to the stipulation of treaties. Every things it conceives, is to be effected byarms. Accordingly it has subjugated the Padris in Sumatra, the Malays and Dyaks in SouthernBorneo, and is now engaged in carrying out the same system against the Bugis in Celebes, and thePapuans in New Guinea. The mission, therefore, of the English in the Archipelago is obviouslytwofold; first, to check the encroachments of the Dutch, who, if suffered to accomplish their designs, would reduce the whole of that part of the world to slavery; and second , to destroy thatsystem of piracy, the strength and widely-spread ramifications of which it requires some intrepidityand more knowledge to credits Pedantic ignorance is apt to be sceptical respecting that which itdoes not understand; and therefore we often see called in question the very existence of thatformidable organisation, to counteract and extirpate which is one of the chief objects of the Rajah of Sarawak.All who had watched the career of this sagacious statesman in the Archipelago regarded withuneasiness the situation of his principality during his absence in Europe. Many persons have, insemi-barbarous countries, acquired power for themselves which, so long as they could exert it personally, they have been enabled to maintain unimpaired; but any attempt at handing over thereins of government to a substitute or successor, has generally proved fatal to the new dynasty, if Imay so express myself. It was, therefore, feared by the friends and well-wishers of Brooke that themoment he quitted Sarawak, and left his Raj under the management of others, the natives would riseagainst the delegated authority and scatter it to the wind. Nor did this apprehension appear altogether unreasonable even to those who were best informed. A handful of Englishmen, stationedon the corner of a vast island, with nothing worthy to be regarded as a military force, and
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