St Leonard's Church, Sheepstor
PRIVATE LETTERS
OF
SIR JAMES BROOKE, K.C.B.
CHAPTER I.
August 1, 1850, to February 15, 1851.
No. 128.
The Rev. Richard Coxe.*
"It was not in my nature, to be made rich in that way;
and I then came to the conclusion that, for private
purposes, I had no right to appropriate the revenue of
Sarawak, beyond remunerating myself for the outlay of
capital."
My dear Richard,
I send you a few hurried lines, to say that we are all well, and that we start for Siam to-morrow, or the day following, after a weary delay here of two months, waiting for a ship.
I was much obliged by your short letter, enclosing the one you wrote to Sir ****, . These virulent and bitter attacks generally overshoot their mark, and recoil on the authors. The mail is now coming in;
and I doubt not, if they have been renewed in the house, that plenty of defenders have started up.
Every day now, will bring answers to the statements which have been set forth through the original agency of one man, i. e. Mr. Wise, my former agent, and now the managing Director of the Eastern Archipelago Company. This gentleman offered to make me a "second Arkwright," and "one of the richest com-moners in England," if I would place implicit con-fidence in him. His plan was, that I should sell Sarawak to a company, remaining its governor, and this was to be a vast company. This I indignantly refused, and would not accept any money from such schemes.
Mr. Wise, finding me likely to become a very unpleasant clog to his golden prospects, deter-mined to get such a hold over me, as to prevent my acting against his project, but in doing this, he committed some acts, which opened my eyes wide. I broke through his thongs like cobwebs, and referred him to my legal adviser, begging him candidly, to produce all his accounts, and to offer the fullest explanations ; adding, at the same time, if the explanation was satisfactory, he would stand higher in my opinion than ever. He would not do this—he would not produce the accounts, or explain; but whilst he threatened to prosecute, he was wise enough to know that a persecution would be safer. Fortunately copies of my letters are in my possession since 1845. They tell a tale......