A man like BROOKE, of an enthusiastic, impulsive, unselfish and almost Quixotic disposition, who wore his heart on his sleeve and let his opinions of men and their actions be freely known, could not but have incurred the enmity of many meaner, self-seeking minds. The Commission, after hearing all that could be brought against him, found that there was nothing proved, but it was not deemed advisable that Sir JAMES should continue to act as the British representative in Borneo and as Governor of the Colony of Labuan, positions which were indeed incompatible with that of the independent ruler of Sarawak. Sarawak independence was first recognised by the Americans, and the British followed suit in 1863, when a Vice-Consulate was established there. The question of formally proclaiming a British Protectorate over Sarawak is now being considered, and it is to be hoped, will be carried into effect.[12] The _personel_ of the Government is purely British, most of the merchants and traders are of British nationality, and the whole trade of the country finds its way to the British Colony of the Straits Settlements. We can scarcely let a country such as this, with its local and other resources, so close to Singapore and on the route to China, fall into the hands of any other European Power, and the only means of preventing such a catastrophe is by the proclamation of a Protectorate over it--a Protectorate which, so long as the successors of Raja BROOKE prove their competence to govern, should be worked so as to interfere as little as possible in the internal affairs of the State. The virulently hostile and ignorant criticisms to which Sir JAMES BROOKE was subjected in England, and the financial difficulties of this little kingdom, coupled with a serious dispute with a nephew whom he had appointed his successor, but whom he was compelled to depose, embittered the last years of his life. To the end he fought his foes in his old, plucky, honest, vigorous and straightforward style. He died in June, 1868, from a paralytic stroke, and was succeeded by his nephew, the present Raja. What Sir JAMES BROOKE might have accomplished had he not been hampered by an opposition based on ignorance and imperfect knowledge at home, we cannot say; what he did achieve, I have endeavoured briefly to sketch, and unprejudiced minds cannot but deem the founding of a prosperous State and the total extirpation of piracy, slavery and head-hunting, a monument worthy of a high, noble and unselfish nature. In addition to that of the Church of England, there has, within the last few years, been established a Roman Catholic Mission, under the auspices of the St. Joseph's College, Mill Hill. The Muhammadans, including all the true Malay inhabitants, do not make any concerted effort to disseminate the doctrines of their faith.