IXX PEOCEEDIKGS OF THE 



lished soon after the proceedings of Sir James Brooke in Borneo 

 had attracted public attention. In the ' Straits Times ' Mr. 

 Woods wrote a series of Articles on this matter which were re- 

 published in 1850 ; and now that more than a quarter of a cen- 

 tury has elapsed since the events referred to, a perusal of the 

 pamphlet may be useful to those who are interested in the ques- 

 tion whether or not Sir James Brooke committed a mistake when 

 he treated the Serebas and Sakarran Dyaks as sea-pirates. 



During the thirty years of his life in Singapore Mr. Woods 

 took part in almost every movement of a public character which 

 required his assistance. He was (at different times) the Hono- 

 rary Secretary of the Sailors' Home, a hard-working member of 

 the Municipal Commission, Honorary Secretary of the Committee 

 appointed to report on the Straits Assessment, Honorary Secre- 

 tary of the Committee to report on the Straits Transfer Question 

 in 1863, one of the Trustees of the Eaffles Institution, &c. ; 

 in all such honorary public offices his services were freely and ably 

 exercised. He prepared several of the memorials to Parliament 

 on the vexed question of the Colonial currency, successfully re- 

 sisting the attempted introduction of the rupee, and assisting in 

 the legalization of the dollar currency, while the mercantile com- 

 munity were saved much trouble by the Analytical Digest of 

 the Indian Merchant Seamen's Act of 1859, in the compilation 

 of which he was of very great assistance. He was very active in 

 carrying out public improvements calculated to add to the orna- 

 ment or convenience of Singapore ; and the public offices which 

 he filled were important and honourable. He was at one time 

 Deputy Sheriff, at another time he acted as Attorney Greneralfor 

 the Straits, and died at the age of 53, Acting Puisne Judge of the 

 Supreme Court at Singapore. He was elected a Fellow on the 

 3rd of December, 1863. 



Jeitbies Wtman was the third son of Dr. Eufus Wyman, Phy- 

 sician to the M'Lean Asylum for the Insane at Charlestown. He 

 was born on the 11th of August, 1814, at Chelmsford, in Mid- 

 dlesex county, Massachusetts, not far from the present city of 

 Lowell. He received the rudiments of his education at Charles- 

 town in a private school, but afterwards went to the Academy 

 at Chelmsford, and in 1826 to Phillips Exeter Academy, where he 

 was prepared for college. He entered Harvard College in 1829 

 and graduated there in 1833. He was not remarkable for general 



