"It is concerning this State and its ruler that we are about to talk. In the first quarter of this century there was an Englishman, named James Brooke, in the service of the East India Company; he left it about 1830, and made a voyage to China, and on his way there he visited Borneo. There he saw how badly the natives were treated by the Malay pirates, who devastated the coast and carried the people away to sell as slaves, after robbing them of all they possessed. He conceived the idea of forming a civilized government for the people, and with this object in view returned to England, where he spent several years in preparations; he bought a yacht out of the royal squadron, and obtained the same privileges for her as for a regular man-of-war. He came here with his yacht in 1838, and attacked the pirates wherever he could find them; their primitive boats and arms were no match for him, and in a year or two he had freed this part of the coast from their depredations. "In return for his assistance, the prince, or rajah of Sarawak, made Brooke his successor, with the full approval of the Sultan of Borneo, and gave him command of the army. English ships and men were sent out to assist him, and while they were attending to the pirates the new rajah went to work to teach the natives how to live like civilized people. He framed laws for them, established a regular government with courts of justice, built roads, developed trade, and in a good many ways made the natives feel that he was their friend." "How did the English Government like this?" one of the boys asked. "Did they approve of one of their nation becoming an Eastern prince?" "The Government was generally favorable to it, as it was in the interest of peace," the Doctor answered, "and besides, it was extending the power of the British Crown. But there was considerable opposition to it among some of the English, and in 1847 Brooke was obliged to go to England to defend himself against the attacks upon his policy. He succeeded in establishing his claims to consideration, and received the honor of knighthood, so that he was afterward called Sir James Brooke, though he is better known as Rajah Brooke. A staff of officers under pay of the British Government was sent to assist him, and the State of Sarawak was regarded as a British dependency, though it was and is nominally independent, and can do as it pleases. "Under the rule of Rajah Brooke the country prospered, and has continued to prosper. Sir James died in 1868, after establishing his nephew as his successor, and the latter rules here now under his uncle's old title. The nephew is quite as philanthropic as the uncle was, and has proved himself an intelligent ruler; the trade of the country increases every year by the development of its resources, and from all we can learn or observe, the inhabitants have reason to be grateful to the Englishmen who came among them and taught them the arts of peace instead of war."