severed his official connection with the British government by a
resignation of the offices which he held under it; while he retains his
sovereignty at Sarawak, with the undiminished love of his subjects and
an unimpaired influence over the native tribes. There seems to be no
doubt that the intelligent public opinion of England fully sustains him.
And it is safe to predict that with that opinion the final verdict of
history will coincide. That, placed in circumstances of great
difficulty, he may have taken steps not to be squared with the nicest
morality, is possible; for that is what must be said of every man who
has borne the burden of great public responsibility. Neither is it
surprising that a man of such boldness of speech and such almost
Cromwellian vigor in action should have enemies; that is a necessity.
But that he has been a true and sagacious friend of the natives, and
that his career has been for the increase of human happiness, are facts
as certain as any can be.

His best defence is his works. In 1842, when he took the government of
Sarawak, it was a feeble province, torn by dissension, crushed by
slavery, and ravaged by lawless violence. Now it is a peaceful,
prosperous commonwealth. In 1842, its capital, Kuching, was a wretched
village, whose houses were miserable mud huts or tents of leaves, and
containing but fifteen hundred inhabitants. Now it numbers fifteen
thousand,--an increase almost rivalling that of our Western cities. In
1842, no boat put to sea without terror. As a result, the amount of
trade was contemptible. Now Sarawak has enterprising native merchants,
owning vessels of two hundred tons, having regular transactions with
Singapore and all the neighboring ports. This trade, as early as 1853,
employed twenty-five thousand tons of shipping, and the exports for the
year were valued at more than a million of dollars. In 1842, deaths by
violence were of almost daily occurrence. Twelve years later, a resident