involved, and at that time those differences were composed. Some time after, a handsome present of plate was made to him by the European community at Sarawak, headed by the Rajah, who wrote when the subscription was set afloat: 'The Bishop deserves more than we can afford to give for his kindness in sickness to each and all of us.' This must have been in the autumn of 1859, as in the month of November the order was given for its manufacture to Messrs. Garrards. It consisted in part of a large salver, bearing the following inscription: Presented by the European inhabitants of Sarawak to the Right Rev. F. T. McDougall, D.C.L., Lord Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak, as a token of respect and esteem, and in grateful remembrance of his unvarying kindness and sympathy.' The Bishop's medical services were also acknowledged by the Borneo Company in the following letter: 7 Mincing Lane, London: April 9, 1860. 'My Lord, I am requested by the Directors of this Company to convey to your lordship their warmest thanks for the kind attentions you have shown to the Company's employés in Sarawak, and for the services you have rendered them in a medical capacity during the last three years, during nearly the whole of which period they have been entirely dependent on your lordship for medical advice. And the Directors beg that you will do them the favour to accept of a sum of 500l. from the Company as a token of their appreciation of your great kindness. 'I am, my Lord, 'Your very obedient servant, For the Borneo Company, Limited, 'JOHN HARVEY, 'Managing Director.' From July 1860 until the Rajah and the Bishop met at Sarawak in 1863 there is no trace of their meeting. In the POSITION AS DOCTOR AT SARAWAK 211 same month of July 1860 the Bishop went on a long visit to Ireland, and in November in the same year the Rajah sailed for Sarawak, where in November 1861 he installed Captain Brooke as Rajah Mudah, returning to England at the end of the year, and not probably ever expecting again to revisit the East. January 1862 he appears to have spent at his new house at Burrator in Devonshire, and in that month the Bishop left for Borneo. After mentioning these gifts it will be proper to explain what appears to have been Bishop McDougall's position towards the European community at Sarawak in his medical capacity. His mission has been described as the first medical mission of the Church of England, and much benefit was expected from his scientific knowledge from the very first as adding to his efficiency, but it was never anticipated or intended by the supporters of the mission that he should for years be the only doctor in Sarawak. Nevertheless, the truth seems to have been that from the appointment of Dr. Treacher to a post at Labuan, which took place shortly before the Bishop first left England, no official resident medical man was appointed up to this time. It had probably always been intended that there should be one, but State funds were very low, the European community was very small, and great confidence was felt in Mr. McDougall's skill, and the sight of suffering was enough to command his services. Everyone, therefore, who was sick applied to him, and never in vain. He felt, too, that goodwill thus shown was the readiest means of access to the hearts of those by whom he was surrounded, and that his labours were thus indirectly bestowed on his mission; and, just as he loved to keep open house, his native generosity always prompted him in this way also to bestow kindnesses. He therefore gradually drifted into becoming the doctor of the place, but he did not practise for gain; and, it must be admitted, sometimes winced under the burthen which was laid upon him, and mentioned it confidentially as one reason why he desired to see his head-quarters removed to Singapore. When at last Dr. Conroy came and left in a month in 1858, he wrote: It is most unfortunate for me. Charity forbids me to refuse my assistance to those who need, but it is at the expense of my strength and night-watching, of my time and pocket, and I get little thanks sometimes for my hard and harassing work.' Dr. Conroy, a duly qualified medical man, and a relative of Mr. Templer's, had been engaged by Captain Brooke, and had come out with his family to Sarawak, but he found the place so different from his expectations that he refused to remain. There must have been some misconception on the subject of his engagement, for on his return to England he brought an action upon it, which was settled by the payment of heavy damages, as is mentioned in the Rajah's biography. There is nothing in the law of England which would prevent a priest from acting as a physician and receiving fees, although he could not act as an apothecary and trade in drugs; but this idea does not seem either to have presented itself to the Bishop's mind or suggested itself elsewhere. There was, however, an obligation felt, and this was expressed by the testimonial, and more substantially by the letter of the Borneo Company, which had been established only about three years before. No doubt but that much real gratitude and affection were felt towards him, which were manifested in various ways. One gentleman, Mr. Duguid, a director of the Borneo Company, who had been at Sarawak, about this time presented him with a valuable episcopal ring, which he wore to the day of his death. To the missionaries and their wives he always thought himself bound to give his best services, and Mrs. McDougall often seconded him at great personal sacrifice. They gave him much opportunity of being useful. After his final departure, a curious proof of the extent of his labours was given in a claim made upon the Society by the Government doctor ON HEAD-QUARTERS AT SINGAPORE 213 for supplying his place, which did not, however, meet the approval of the Tuan Mudah, beyond the payment of the actual cost of expensive drugs, and was therefore withdrawn. While in England he addressed a letter, dated May 23, 1861, to the secretary of the S.P.G., stating that he had learnt that it had been decided at the Colonial Office that the Straits Settlements were to be incorporated with the colony of Labuan, which would naturally lead to their separation from the diocese of Calcutta, and incorporation in that of Labuan. 'The advantages,' he said, 'that will attend this measure are manifold. (1) It is most desirable that some safer centre than Sarawak has proved itself should be formed as the basis of missionary operations in Borneo and the Eastern Archipelago. In the émeutes that have occurred and may again occur in Sarawak, our principal missionary establishment there has once and again been jeopardised and severely injured, and may be cut off at any time, and the heart of the mission destroyed; whereas with our main reserve at Singapore, under the protection of the British flag, it would be out of harm's way, and in a position to repair the losses that our subordinate establishment might suffer in Borneo. (2) In the present political position of Sarawak it is most desirable that our missions should not appear dependent on the local Government, but should appear what they really are, missions of the English Church, connected with the chief English station at Singapore, and independent of Sir J. Brooke and his officials, for those who have tried and may try again to upset his government would fear to harm any Englishman whom they knew to be connected with Singapore. This settlement is but three hundred miles away from Sarawak, the communication constant, and, in truth, it is the place from which we are obliged to get all our supplies.' 'The position of Sarawak is now so different from what we hoped it would be when it was chosen as our chief station, that Sir J. Brooke himself told me, before he last left England, that he thought it expedient and desirable that Singapore should now be the centre of the diocese.' He pointed out that little or nothing had been done for the British settlements 'beyond the appointment of chaplains from Bengal, whose average term of service had not been more than two years, so that the pastoral care of the Europeans had been inefficiently conducted, and the missionary work left to the Roman Catholics, who had a bishop at Penang, and a considerable body of French clergy, Frères Chrétiens, and Sisters of Mercy, who were making proselytes of Protestants as well as among the heathen population.' Bishop Cotton of Calcutta was very glad of the prospect of a diminution in his unwieldy diocese, and in the spring of this year (April 1861) wrote to Bishop McDougall, saying he wished to pay a visit to the Straits in the following year, and should be very glad if his last act of diocesan authority should be to consecrate a cathedral for him as his successor. Another matter should also be referred to. Before he left England he made a formal application to the Secretary for the Colonies for the appointment of a chaplain at Labuan. This letter is sufficiently complete on the subject to which it relates to deserve insertion. The appointment of chaplain was afterwards made, and in answer to a further application, dated February 1863, grants in money and convict labour were also approved for the building of a church, parsonage, and schools in the island: 'Queen's Gate Terrace: Nov. 19, 1861. 'Sir, I have the honour to bring again to your notice the destitute state of the colony of Labuan in a religious point of view. Since its settlement in the year 1848, there has never been a resident chaplain appointed, and the only care the European inhabitants have had in a spiritual way has been when I have paid such occasional visits to the colony as my limited means and the difficulty of communication between |