Dr. House continued to be superintendent of the mission school
after his return in 1856, and although he makes very few references
to this work in his journal from now on, yet there are occasional
items which mark the growth. From this period Mrs. House appears
as a factor in the educational work, but her achievements will
occupy a separate chapter. In August after the return the doctor
writes:
“Our school is much enlarged—many applicants to learn
English. The eldest child of the son of the Prime Minister
now comes regularly to Mrs. Mattoon, a very bright lad of
seven. At the request of the king I am teaching two princes;
one of sixteen, his grandson, the other a grandson of the
late king, a boy of eleven. And by order of H. M. a dozen
of the sons of his servants are now learning English in our
school as day scholars.... There is a spacious bamboo school
house going up in the back part of our lot.”
This growth, however, was in the educational work. While the
workers did not belittle the importance of the school, they were
well-nigh sick of heart with deferred hopes, a feeling that is
reflected in their report to the Board for the year 1856:
“It requires no little faith to conduct, day after day and
year after year, these patient labours; especially as they
have not resulted in the conversion of those on whom time,
talents and prayers of the missionaries are spent.”
This increase in school was so rapid that shortly after they
had established themselves on the site granted by the king it
became evident that this lot in the city would not allow for the
expansion commensurate with the growth. With the awakening of a
desire for education and of an interest in the foreign religion
the earlier necessity of having a location within the city itself
had passed, for what the mission had to offer was being sought
after. Accordingly, a parcel of ground, the gift of Mr. D. O. King,
was obtained on the west bank of the river in the lower suburbs
known as Sumray. There new buildings were erected, and in November,
1857, the transfer of the mission was effected to that site, which
became the scene of the most notable achievements of the mission in
Bangkok and continues to the present day the center of a pervasive
Christian influence.
At the end of the first year in the new location, Dr. House wrote
home: “School occupies me much of the time. We have a new Siamese
teacher, a most respectable old gentleman; may he get good from us,
saving good.” This teacher was Nai Chune, who, a year later, became
the first Siamese convert. The significance of this addition to
the teaching force is that the pupils are no longer predominantly
Chinese lads, but that the demand for teaching the Siamese language
requires a native teacher.
The winter season, being free from rains, was the time best suited
for touring in the country. In February of 1858 Dr. and Mrs. House
started up the Meinam to revisit the scenes of their former tour.
Finding the river alive with pilgrims going to Prabat for the
annual veneration of Buddha’s footprint, they decided to join the
pilgrimage as affording an excellent opportunity for distributing
tracts. On this visit to the shrine the visitors did not experience
the same opposition to entering the sanctum as Dr. House had on his
first visit.