The Washington herald., 1913-01-06
FOREIGN GOSSIP

proclamation establishment a Sarawak
Government Agency in England. with an
Advisory Council consisting of three
members. The principal object Of the
creation of the council is to be the
Strengthening and upholding in the
United Kingdom of the authority of the
reigning Rajah to the end that the future
prosperity and the integrity and indie
pendence of the state may be main
| tanned.
| Allegations recently were made that a
movement was being engineered TO un-
dermine the authority of the Ratah.
| The story Of how an EnslIshman came
| to be the absolute monarch of a por-
! ton of Borneo Island, with an area g.
| 90 square miles and population
some 500.000. is a romantic one Sir James
| Brooke, the uncle of the present Rajah
of Sarawak, having been left a fortune
Of 10000 by his father. bought and
armed a yacht and with a crew of picked
men he arrived in Borneo during an in
surrection. After much hard fighting he
was instrumental IN keeping Muda
HasSim. the then Sultan, on the throne
As his reward, Brooke was presented
with Sarawak. CThe name. by the way,
is pronounced with the accent on the
hard "a of the middle sylable) The
new Rajah undertook vigorous reforms
At first he was much troubled by pirates
but peace was restored when the British
government sent ships OF war to his as
SiStance.
The present ruler. Sir Charles johnson
Brooke. is a nephew of the first Rajah.
whose name he adopted. He is a son
of the late Rev. Francis G. Johnson
vicar of White darlington. in Sommer-
set, England. He was elected to succeed
his uncle forty-five years ago, and is
now in his eighty-tfth year. His son,
{. V. Brooke, the Rajah Muda. was mar
ried last year to the Hon. Sylvia Brett,
daughter of Lord Esther.
Hostilities were suspended between the
allies and the Turks. and a number of
Turkish regiments withdrawn from the
Tchatalja lines to form a guard Of honor
at the funeral of the Patriarch of the
Greek Church in Constantinople.
The pictures of the elaborate ceremonies
attendant on the death of Joachim Ill
patriarch of all the Greeks in Turkey.
present spectacle almost unbelievable
when existing conditions in CONSTANT
nopie, as the result Of war and cholera,
are considered. and also in view of the
fact that hOstilities practically were sus-
pended three days that proper homage
which tho daily press had nothing to say.
The scenes depicted are unique piano.
rama, showing an endless procession
passing through the Patriarchate. paus-
ing only long enough to kiss the hand of
the dead pontiff. II is estimated that
more than 10000 people performed this
rite.
The body OF the Patriarch. clothed in |
the gorgeous robes of his high office,
staff in his right hand. was seated on |
his throne In the cathedral On the day |
of the funeral the throne, holding the
body OF the dead, seated as in life was |
borne through the streets of the city, es- !
cOrted by the dignitaries of the church. |
the Diplomatic Corps. and high officials |
of the government. Following them came |
thousands of mournerS. the members OF !
his flock. whose outward expression of !
feeling showed the great hold which the |
dead prelate, who did SO much for them |
had upon their hearts. Regiments of !
Turkish infantry, withdrawn for the pur- |
pose from the battle lines at Tchatalia |
formed the hedge from the Patriarchate |
at Pnanar to the Adrianople gate of Old |
STEAMBOAT.
Joachim III was distinguished for his
piety and great learning. and after bril-
liant service as Archbishop of Varna and |
later as Metropolitan OF Saloniki was
made Patriarch in the trying days of
the RuSso-Turkish war. He guided the
church successfully through the difficult
ties which arose from territorial readjust-
ment and from Turkish resentment after
the war. and then bent his energies to
the development of the spiritual and in
tellectual life of the Orthodox Church.
His efforts to obtain better educated
clergy were seconded by all the Greek
laymen, but won for him the hostility of
ecclesiastics So bitter was his own
clergy against him that he was dethroned
iu-fSSt and sent to a monastery on Mount
Athos.
But after seventeen years of exile he
was again called to the patriarchal
throne in 1901. and filed his high position
with great ability during ten of the most
critical years that the Eastern Church has
known since the Ottoman CONQUEST The
question, always bitter be-
tween Bulgarians aH Greeks, reached the
point of effervescence in 1906. A man
with less tact and ability on the patri-
archal throne would have hopelessly d.
Vided the Bulgarians and Greeks There
vas great provocation on both sides. and