The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-07-01
A viking of Our Day.


A viking of Our Day.
Now and then, in newspaper paragraphs
or in the note books of Eastern travellers.
we come upon some reference TO Rainh
BROOKE of Bornco. Who Is this parsonage
What is the ground of his title. and the
scope Of his authority? How does II ham
pcn that the independent sovereign of "A
Malay race and n Moslcm rcoplc bears an
English name? 1t may be worth while to
answer these questions and review some
striking events in the life of n remarkable
man.
This age of steam and electricity and Of
sentimental rccoil from the mosaic formal
ism of existence. is vet not wholly sterile in
tvpes Of adventure md romance sucb ns
Persian tnln-vvnnvnr German minstrel and
Morse Soro-mnn have drawn If we know
moro Of that NIohnmmednn world whcr,
nutocrotic forms of govcrnmont STRANGELY
cn-nvisi with "A snciul stru,turc osson,iallv
democratic we r,i,ht no.nt no dnuht f.
many instnn,o.of s,,lnndid ror.nnol o,hinyc.
mont and oIrnnt ACKNOWLEDGEMENT l.,
o,r own, do,. ,ho nono ~, V,c,,u Eu.,
M all events is familiar. and in his
,oroo, ya h,vo soon rarnatod an ro.
a bn ~ nrIIn of
Zr>curs and Of T,,rnI,,Sr. What is moro
surprising. however. j. 10 find in another
mari of A-in an ENGLISH Gentleman ron.,yin,,
the exhibit. of Norman Eol.Lo and of Rom
rur GrIsc,nn with no resources lint his
nrivoto fortune connuerinp for himself "A
nriuinolit, rulin,, his territn rics with vi,,nr
and snpocitv throughout n ouortor of n con.
turv. and hanoing down the princelv Office
a.. nm inheritance in his family
J,vrs RnooEr was thn second son ~ n
.bdcn or ,hn Can't 81 Anranl Mt p.n,rns
R, Li,,b hr.adin, and education bo WIS -
thnrnu,,b rcntloman md In 1s45 an tLa
dnnth of hi. fathor no hocnp,o ,uostnr nr
r9onoo He might have pniuod swift nd.
vau,onout I'm his vocation which was tbn
r,ili,,,,. -.r,.;oe az tho r,st Iudi. cnunau,..
Lut bo could NOT h,nd ia tbc rnutine nf a
,r,r.-.i,,, ,,hoso ,,,,o,, nrnortunitios .co,pnd
g., h,,, ,oui.bnd With crN.r and II ,.r-
txos rho all H.reo,,nr s,i,.it ,,os nt ,y,rl,
il, ~ ,.,,,,,,, ,r,l,-I,dion md moved hin,
nr..,ntl,. to nroin,t nm ontnrn,isn which ~
Tho po,re Sncinties and N,ncbeeter n,li,i-
i,,,. az tho dawn, hov. so,n,,l a etra,,,,,,
on,,l,,,m 80 f,ll,n,d If crime Thn stnid
roo,,,,r- az ,h, i,L,,,,r,,, o,or, et,r,t.,lh v ,
manifesto tho liz. or which had mot ln.n
.,,,, .i,,.o ,r...,s p,,,,a,, pp.vr o,d
u,vr,xs i.suo1 ,ro,,ns,l. f,., ,hn,r ,,,,,li.
tinns ia, south s,as U,d.od il is nnt.-
worth, Tint ma .ots ,nr,h Tho r,,cis.
orn,,rIe 49,, uIioh ,h,.o en,no,,e no,i,,,t,rs
oo,,,ht "a in.tif,. ,boir h,Ir-,lroticol rr,,i.e-
oe,,ip.t the Snani.rd n. do,lareet that TN,
nronoudor.tin,, iunuenca of ,bo Dutch in tba
N,iny Arcliucln,,n !. nr,ind,,i,l ia thn In.
|
r,..s p,o.oaliu,,,hon outoto his r,rrneo
! tbnn which n IL ;mnoeeiIL, In conc.i,n a
,,,,., ol.,lnto onochr.ni.,n ar - ,,o,.. ,.i,id
rer,odnc,inn If ,be viking tomnnr "T am
| ,,iuIod~ ma e,va "to odvapca tho oou.
merci,l nrosnoritv If England and Ia hotter
tho condition NJ tho native racos h, mvsolf
acquiring territorial no-sossion in tho ,rchi.
pclaro. | have carefully weighed all diff
cultios. and am clearly of opinion that for
this purpose n schooner of l42 tons. with n
good crew and JAMES BROOKE as a COM
mandcr is sufficient" Now. in this nine
teenth century. we do not understand the
Viking: but two things we know. the nitrate
and the founder Of States and TO which of
these categorics this singular Young man
belonged would be determined bv his suisse
aucut actions.
In the autumn Of 1910 BRooKE's schooner,
the Royalist, anchors in the Sarawak river
abreast Of Kuchlng, the capital Of that part
of Eornco. The Malay ruler is at war and
invokes the assistance Of the whito-faccd
warrior against his enemies. BRoohE
counscs lighting, but the native army has
no stomach for fight and accordingly the
Englishman reports that his further stay il
useless. But the liaiah inplores the Groat