_THE WATS OF SIAM._
“On the pagoda-spire
The bells are swinging,
With their little golden circlets in a flutter
With tales the wooing winds have dared to utter,
Till all are ringing
As if a choir
Of golden-nested birds in heaven were singing;
And with a lulling sound
The music floats around,
And drops like balm into the drowsy ear.”――MRS. JUDSON.
A Siamese wat, instead of a single lofty pagoda, as often represented
in the pictures of Burmah, consists of a number of buildings scattered
about a large park-like enclosure. Let us in imagination visit such a
Buddhist temple connected with a monastery――say, one of the largest to
be found in any part of the world――in Bangkok.
Starting on such an expedition, at the entrance of the enclosure,
generally near the boat-landing on the river, you would find a large
garden or rest-house, called by the Burmese _zayat_ and by the Siamese
_sala_. This sala is made up of two or three open pavilions, according
to the size of the wat, erected as lounging-places for the inmates or
as resting-places for travelers. It is to the Siamese what the inn is
to the American or Englishman, and is often useful to our missionaries
in their tours about the country. To build a _sala_ is considered a
meritorious act by the Buddhists.
[Illustration: BANYAN TREE (_Ficus indica_).]
You pass the sala and enter an area, generally consisting of several
acres of ground, laid out with trees and ornamental shrubbery. Here
are shady walks, always hard and smooth, sometimes paved with marble;
fruit- and flower-gardens; not seldom artificial grottoes; pools with
fish and playing fountains; and miniature mountains. There is also one
large tree, claimed to be a shoot of the veritable tree under which
Shakyamuni sat when he attained to Buddha-ship――the sacred Bôdhi tree.
[Illustration: SIAMESE TEMPLE.]
“You may remark,” says Dr. Eitel, “that the tree before you is by no
means a _Ficus religiosa_, but a _Ficus indica_, or it may happen that
it is neither of the two, but a palm tree (most probably then the
_Borassus flabelliformis_); but the attendant priest who acts as your
guide will tell you nevertheless, with a bland smile, that it _is_ a
_Ficus religiosa_, and that only ignorant and wantonly skeptical
persons can have any doubt on the subject. Is there not a plate
erected at the foot of the tree stating that this tree grew out of a
shoot brought directly from the holy land, cut off the very Bôdhi tree
at Gâya?
“It is a remnant of the ancient tree-worship that almost every
religious sect of Asia has a sacred tree of its own. The Brahmans
revered the _Ficus indica_, for which Buddhism originally substituted
the _Ficus religiosa_. But in course of time the Buddhists either
reverted to the former tree or confounded the two. They were probably
led to do so by the intuitive apprehension that Buddhism as it grew
and spread singularly followed the mode of growth which is a
distinctive mark of the sacred tree of the Brahmans, the _Ficus
indica_. It is a peculiarity of the latter that it extends itself by
letting its branches droop and take root, planting nurseries of its
own, and thus so multiplying itself that a single tree forms a
curiously arched grove.
“This is precisely the way in which Buddhism propagated itself. It
germinated in India, but sent out branches south and north, each
taking root, and each perpetuating itself by further offshoots, whilst
the parent stock was gradually withered, and finally decayed. Buddhism
left but few traces behind in India, but it still lives in Ceylon and
in the offshoots of the Singhalese Church in Burmah, Siam and Pegu.
When Buddhism became almost totally extinct in India, the whole force
of its vitality seemed to throw itself northward, and it spread with
renewed vigor and widening shade over Cashmere and Nepaul to China and
Thibet. Chinese Buddhism threw forth new branches, northward into
Corea and Japan and southward over Cochin-China, Cambodia and Laos,
whilst Thibetan Buddhism pushed its branches into Mongolia, Mantchuria
and the greater part of Central Asia.
“Now, in each of these countries Buddhism established separate
churches, each having its own locally diversified life, its own
saplings, its own fruits, and yet all these many branches from one
grove connected with each other and the old withered parent stock in
India by a network of intertwining roots. Shivanism and Shananism,
which saturated and leavened the churches of the north to a very
considerable extent, now influenced the minds of Southern Buddhists.
They clung to the old traditions, retained the ancient dogma,
preserved their primitive monastic and ecclesiastical forms in languid
torpor, but with tolerable fidelity. Yet still, Burmese and Siamese
Buddhism under the influence of Brahmanism went so far as to
amalgamate with the Buddhist religious notions derived from the
primitive tree- and serpent-worship, which was a form of religion not
only prior to Buddhism, but indigenous in Burmah and Siam. The
consequence is, that practical Buddhist worship there is marked by the
prevalence of Brahmanic mythology.”
At the cremations, during plagues, epidemics and floods, our
missionaries tell us, more attention is given to spirit-worship than
to Buddhism proper. During the rice-planting and harvest the favor of
the spirits of the air, earth and water is sought. Spirit-offerings
may be found in the homes of the people, in the boats, fish-poles,
threshing-floors, and even hanging to the sacred Bô tree itself.
As you turn into the principal avenue of the grounds of a wat you will
be very apt to find figures of enormous stone griffins, representing
the demon kings of the four regions who guard the world against the
attacks of evil spirits; and crouching lions, stone emblems of
Shakyamuni (literally, “Shakya the lion”), who is, according to the
Buddhists, by his strength the king of the beasts, as he is by his
moral excellence the king of men.
[Illustration: TEMPLE AT AYUTHIA.]
On a sunny day you will find gathered in the area of the outer court a
motley assemblage of priests, boys and beggars, lazily basking in the
sun or engaged in various pursuits――chewing betel-nut, smoking,
gambling or playing chess; which latter is much the same game as our
own, only the powers of the pieces are more restricted. If it should
happen to be a Siamese holy day, a busy multitude of all ages and both
sexes, men, women and children, will be passing to and fro, carrying
offerings to the temple or going to hear Buddhist preaching.
[Illustration: MONASTERY OF WAT SISAKET.]
Let us examine the buildings more closely. Passing the first, possibly
the second, court, you reach by a flight of steps the wide terrace on
which stands the principal temple or idol-house. This court is
surrounded by a quadrangular row of cloisters; handsome jars filled
with lotus and other plants surround the temple. This is only a large
Siamese hall, built of brick thickly coated with white plaster, which
at a little distance gives it the appearance of marble. The pyramidal
roof, in vertical stages, turns up at the extremities in great horns,
and is resplendent with glazed red, green and yellow tiles. The roofs,
gable-ends, doors and windows (without glass) are of solid timber,
covered in a bewildering way with intricately-cut cornices,
intersecting mouldings and fantastic embellishments of grotesque human
and animal figures, elaborately carved and heavily gilded――an art in
which the Siamese have considerable skill. The large square room
within is ornamented with painted paper representing scenes taken from
Buddhist mythology or horrible mediæval-like pictures of their
_inferno_, or series of hells.
[Illustration: BRASS IDOL IN A TEMPLE AT BANGKOK.]
Entering this building, you see an altar, generally eight or ten
shelves high, tapering to a gilded point. It contains many-sized
figures of Buddha in the sitting posture, together with a gaudy
display of wax candles, incense-tapers, gold and silver tinsel
ornaments, offerings of fruit and flowers. Possibly some priests in
yellow robes, with burning candles, are chanting monotonous liturgies;
more probably, however, no priests are seen, but only people coming
and going with gifts to this dead god Buddha. Step nearer. Do not fear
to disturb their devotions. Instead of the decorum usual in Christian
churches, the votaries are social, and even noisy――one moment
prostrate before the altar, the next singing an idle song. Men
smoking, women mixing freely with the crowd, neither veiled nor shy.
They are the most assiduous in the religious performances, going about
sprinkling the images with perfumes and offering oblations of lighted
incense-rods, fresh lotus and other flowers, chaplets or artificial
flowers, fruits, and clothes of various descriptions. Children three
years old go through with their prostrations before the images with
great composure and gravity.
Each country professing Buddhism appears to adopt its own idea as to
the shape of its images. Those of Siam have an attenuated figure,
comporting with our associations of the ascetic. These images have a
complacent, sleepy look, the long ears resting on the shoulders, the
fingers and toes of equal length. The best images are of bronze or
brass, one large brass idol of Bangkok being a perfect giant in size.
There are also silver and plate-gold idols, but the more numerous are
a composite of plaster, resin and oil mixed with hair, and, after the
figure is shaped, covered with varnish, upon which is laid a thick
coat of gilding. Into the composition of the great “sleeping idol” of
Bangkok were put thousands of bushels of lime, molasses, quick-silver
and other materials, at a cost of several thousand dollars. These
idols are not only in the temples, but everywhere――on mountain-tops
and caves and in the homes of the people.
In the famous Wat P’hra Keäu (the private temple of the royal family
within the palace enclosure, and connecting by a secret passage with
the most private apartments of His Majesty’s harem) is perhaps the
finest specimen of an altar. It is at least sixty feet high, tapering
to a golden spire. The shelves are loaded with rare and costly
specimens of Siamese, Chinese and European art――idols covered with
plate gold, solid silver vases of beautiful workmanship, golden
candlesticks, marble statuary, ivory ornaments, clocks, garments
studded with precious stones; crowning all, the beautiful emerald idol
flashing with a molten mass of diamonds, sapphires and other gems.
This cross-legged statue of Buddha, one foot high and eight inches
wide at the knees, is of great value and antiquity.
The kings and nobles of Siam spend large sums on their temples and
idols. There are between one and two hundred temples in the city of
Bangkok alone. Several cost one hundred thousand dollars, and it is
estimated that the Wat P’hra Keäu, with its lofty gilded roof, rich
carvings, fine paintings and floor paved with diamond-shaped bricks of
polished brass, cost nearly a million dollars.
Such expensive temples and monstrous images are built not only to
impress and awe the people, but to make a large amount of merit. _Tam
boon_, or “merit-making,” is, after all, the sum and substance of
Siamese Buddhism. The words are on the lips of young and old, rich and
poor, almost every hour of the day. They are anxious to make all the
merit possible, believing that their pilgrimage through the forms of
animal life and the duration of their purgatorial existence in the
several Buddhist hells is the result of _Karma_――_i. e._ merit and
demerit. Speaking of the future, the Siamese always say, “_Tam boon,
tam kam_”――“according to merit or demerit.”
The king makes merit when he builds a costly temple or goes on his
yearly tour to distribute presents among the priests of the royal
wats. The pauper makes merit when with a broom of small twigs he
sweeps the dead leaves from the temple-grounds. The old man makes
merit when with painful difficulty he urges his palsied limbs to the
wat, and there bows in the temple before an image of Buddha till his
forehead touches the floor. The housewife who takes the last mouthful
of rice from her hungry husband to feed some lazy priest makes merit.
The infant makes merit when the mother, holding its tiny hand in hers,
guides the fingers in forming the wax taper that is used in worship.
[Illustration: THE GREAT TOWER OF THE PAGODA WAT CHEUG.]
Pagodas, or sacred spires――detached pyramidal piles of solid masonry,
frequently reaching a great height――are always found in connection
with the Siamese temples. These are supposed to contain some relic of
Buddha, and are sacred to his memory. The most remarkable pagoda of
Siam is that in the extensive grounds of the Wat Cheug, opposite the
royal palace in Bangkok. Bell-shaped and about two hundred feet high,
every inch of its irregular surface is encrusted over with colored and
glazed ornamentation, consisting largely of grotesque human and animal
figures, while from each projection to the very needle-point of the
spire hang little bells, a tiny golden wing attached to their tongues
to catch the passing breeze, and all day long thousands of tinkling,
silvery voices,
“As if a choir
Of golden-nested birds in heaven were singing,”
fill the air with sweet, weird music.
[Illustration: BUDDHIST PRIEST.]
Each wat has also its chapel, or preaching-hall. On the feasts or
sacred days crowds of women flock to hear some favorite priest read
_Bana_. One day a missionary stopped to rest among the shady groves of
a wat, and, hearing the voice of one reading, he entered. Out of a
congregation of fifty he found only two men. This is what he saw: A
yellow-robed priest seated on his high pedestal in the centre, in one
hand a fan to keep his eyes from wandering to things carnal, in the
other a palm-leaf book, from which he read sentences of the Buddhist
scriptures, written in the Pali, in a monotonous tone, occasionally
adding an explanation in Siamese. Before him burned a wax taper. His
congregation, seated in a circle on the floor, reverently listened
with downcast eyes, their palms joined and heads bowed till the elbows
rested on the ground, though much of the service was in an unknown
tongue: “Blessed is he who heareth the law.” So, reverently listening
to the words spoken, they believe themselves blest, nor would they
consider the merit any greater if they understood the preacher.
Occasionally, however, there are priests who preach intelligibly to
attentive hearers. Ordinary popular preaching is simply extracts from
the traditional life and transmigrations of the last Buddha. The facts
of his history are briefly, as set forth in the Buddhist writings, as
follows:
Gautama, the last and greatest of the seven Buddhas, had appeared on
this earth at least five hundred and fifty times (working his way up
from the lowest forms of existence, and always exhibiting absolutely
self-denying charity) before he was finally born a son of the rajah of
Magadha. According to the Ceylon tradition, he would be nearly
contemporary with the prophet Daniel, as their sacred writings place
his death in 543 B. C. From this period the sacred era of Siam is
dated. This young prince fled from his royal father, and, forsaking
rank and wife and child, became first a hermit. Later he wandered, in
a course of open-air preaching, through the length and breadth of
India, and, Southern Buddhists claim, even to Ceylon. By the force of
his irresistible eloquence he founded a new sect. Fanatics of all
ranks, taking on themselves voluntary vows of chastity and poverty,
left their families to follow in his footsteps. He begged from door to
door, taught the vanity of life, the terrors of transmigration and of
the purgatorial hells, and claimed that his noble fourfold path was
the only salvation from this dizzy round of birth and death; that
Nirvana――or in Siamese _Nipan_――was the haven of final rest. He
therefore urged his disciples of all ages and ranks to turn from other
pursuits and devote themselves by a course of meditation, crucifixion
of desire and meritorious acts exclusively to this one object――the
attainment of Nipan. After forty-five years of such teaching it is
claimed he passed into Nipan. Henceforth, for centuries, he has been
held up as the Pure One (_Arahang_), and worshiped as the Buddha.
Hence the confession of faith of a devout Buddhist is, “I take refuge
in Buddha”――meaning that as the sage during all these hundreds of
births distinguished himself by a self-sacrificing charity and acts of
merit, denying and conquering all the natural appetites and desires,
so the disciple bases his system of morals and his hopes of the future
on the life and precepts of the founder. “Imitate Buddha; accept his
ideas of life; renounce family relations, property, the carnal desires
and passions,”――this is the one theme of Buddhist preaching.
In Christian lands we speak of “the preaching of the cross;” so the
Buddhist, adopting the _wheel_ as symbolic of the weary rounds of
transmigration, speaks of “turning the wheel of doctrine” as most
expressive of the Buddhist idea of salvation――rest or Nipan.
Heretofore, preaching-halls have been bare within, but the present
king has lately built a beautiful Gothic chapel after the most
approved modern style――stained glass windows, an altar, pews for the
congregation, and something that has the appearance of a grand organ,
with great pipes running to the ceiling, but, alas! a niche in each
pipe filled with a small idol, and a much larger one on the altar.
Still, the departure from old customs shows His Majesty’s desire for
improvement.
Besides the preachings given in wat-chapels, private services are held
by the Siamese monks at houses of nobles or some wealthy citizens by
special request. The object is to give the host and his family an
occasion to make extra merit.
Each wat has also its library, containing the sacred books or Buddhist
scriptures. These are in the immediate charge of the priests, and are
regarded as the most holy portion of the wat. You will certainly be
expected to remove your shoes at the door. Siamese libraries are not
what we associate with the word. The Wat P’hra Keäu library is matted
with silver wire. In the centre is a large pyramidal chest of ebony
inlaid with mother-of-pearl, answering for our shelves, where the
books are kept. Most libraries have plainer chests or closets much in
the same style. Their collection of sacred books forms a library it
would take many men to carry. When a Siamese understands that
Christianity is intended to supersede Buddhism, his tendency is to
despise the smallness of our Bible as compared with his own sacred
canon. Besides, he can produce no mean list of excellent moral
precepts, and thinks the miracles of Buddha no whit behind those of
the Bible.
The Siamese received their sacred canon from Ceylon. This is the very
earliest compilation that history can point out. It was partly reduced
to writing, after being handed down orally for several generations,
about 93 A. D., and the whole was first compiled and fixed in writing
412 to 432 A. D.
If on a visit to such a library our guide proves to be that _rara
avis_, an intelligent Buddhist priest of the reform party (among whom
the late king was the prominent leader), he would tell you, as one of
the head-priests explained to Mr. Caswell, “Here are two piles of
books. The first contains the instructions of Buddha; the second
contains the writings of eminent teachers of Buddhism who lived in
ancient times. The first pile our party receive as authority in
religion; the second we compare with the first; so far as it disagrees
we reject it.” In answer to an inquiry if they found much to reject in
the second pile, the priest said, “Yes, much,” and mentioned one whole
set of more than five hundred volumes rejected.
Under the influence of these reformers, so far back as 1844, the king
of Siam despatched an embassy to Ceylon to make further religious
researches in that primitive nursery of their faith. These liberal
views continued to spread, following the introduction of printed and
scientific works by our missionaries; the more intelligent nobles and
priests discovered errors in the geography, geology, and especially
astronomy, which necessitated the discarding of much formerly held
sacred. Here was planted the germ of disintegration now busily at work
undermining this gigantic system of atheism. The confidence of many is
shaken in the ethical teachings of sacred books so full of
intellectual and moral despair.
But examine this Buddhist collection: see how unlike our books. Here
is a bundle of palm-leaf slips from a foot to eighteen inches long and
two to three inches broad, filed by strings strung through each end.
Notice the richly-gilded edges. Do not these strange characters
recall the dots and dashes and curious hieroglyphics of our
telegraph-operators? These sacred writings are engraved with an iron
style, and black powder is rubbed in to make the impression distinct.
After finishing your examination the priest wraps them with reverent
care in silk or muslin and returns them to the central ark or closet
already described.
Sometimes in the wat library studious priests are found sitting on the
floor, each with his book resting on a low reading-stool or desk
before him, but they will probably feign not to notice us. Some high
priests have fine private collections, including, of late years,
English and French standard works.
Ordinary Siamese books are written on stiff paper prepared with black
paste to receive impressions from a stone pencil. These are about a
foot broad and several feet long, folded zigzag to form pages about
three inches deep. When one side is filled the sheet is turned and the
subject continued on the reverse side. Some of these books are fully
illustrated with colored plates. The characters are written from right
to left, and almost all Siamese composition, except letter-writing, is
metrical. Outside of the sacred writings the literature is meagre,
consisting mainly of chronicles of their own and neighboring
countries, dialogues, low plays and inferior romances――usually war or
love adventures borrowed from remote and largely fabulous chronicles
of their early history: the favorite topic of all is the mythological
exploits of the Hindoo god Rama.
But a Siamese wat is not merely a place of worship; most of all it is
a monastery. You will find it worth while to glance at the dormitories
of the priests. There are often several hundred inmates in a large
wat. The ordinary priests and novitiates have usually rows of little
cells, almost bare of furniture except the coverlets and pillows and
mosquito-nets for sleeping. In others there are neat whitewashed brick
buildings scattered around the grounds, putting you in mind of little
English cottages. The houses of the abbot and prior are larger. If you
call, possibly their apartments may not seem in accord with the
primitive simplicity enjoined by the rules of their order on Buddhist
priests. Some head-priests now-a-days have foreign furniture,
pictures, clocks and other _articles de luxe_, and pride themselves on
owning a fairly representative modern library and scientific
instruments.
Properly, a Buddhist monk possesses in his own right eight
articles――viz. three robes, a girdle, an alms-bowl, a razor, a needle
and a water-strainer, this last that he may not unwittingly in
drinking destroy animal life. All other articles accepted in charity
are supposed to be received on behalf of the chapter. The Siamese monk
must observe strict celibacy, refrain from all secular avocations and
eat no solid food after the sun has passed the meridian. Priests are
easily recognized by their yellow robes and shaven heads. In going
about they usually feign indifference to all temporal concerns by
walking with measured pace, apparently noticing nothing.
There is no hereditary priesthood. Any male enters a wat at his
pleasure, and leaves it without reproach to return to secular life: if
married, however, he must be divorced before entering. Every man is
expected to spend more or less time in the priesthood, and according
to law no one can serve the government until he has done so. Little
boys are put into the wats as pupils at a very early age (for each wat
is more or less of a public school), and when they have learned to
read and write they are ready to put on the yellow robes; so they grow
up to manhood, and often to middle age, amid surroundings only
calculated to make them idle and frequently vicious men.
There are certain special months for entering and for leaving the
priesthood. The shortest period is three months. During this portion
of the year the number is much larger, as many leave after a very
short stay. The ceremonies of ordination are simple, consisting in the
tonsure of the candidate, prayers repeated by the priest, bathing with
holy water and assuming the yellow robe――something like the old Roman
tunic in shape, with a scarf thrown over the shoulders. Such services
are accompanied by the distribution of largess to the priests and the
poor――but chiefly to the former――and often by prolonged feasting. To
defray the expenses of ordinations is considered an act of merit, and
every Siamese spends as much for this purpose as his means will allow.
Women make merit by weaving and staining the yellow robes freely
distributed on such occasions.
It is the duty of priests to ordain others as priests; to consecrate
idols and temples; to assist in wedding and funeral rites; to read the
Pali hymns and prayers (of which he acquires at least a parrot
knowledge); and to instruct the boys entrusted to his supervision.
There are also the _Nains_, or novices, too young to take full orders.
Every superior priest has special disciples, who look to him for
counsel, prostrate themselves on entering his presence, and otherwise
evince profound respect, almost adoration.
In Bangkok alone there are thousands of priests dependent on charity
for daily bread. The Buddhist code makes no distinction between prince
and peasant in the priesthood. All must eat only what has been given
in alms, and when in health each is expected to carry around the
alms-bowl. This is slung from the neck and covered with the robe,
except when alms are received. It is estimated that it costs Siam
twenty-five million dollars annually to keep up this immense army of
priestly mendicants and religious ceremonials.
[Illustration: BUDDHIST PRIESTS GATHERING FOOD.]
The majority of priests readily acknowledge mercenary motives for
assuming the yellow robe. “The wats are more comfortable than our
dwellings,” they say. “Disciples paddle our canoes; our food and
clothes are given us; we are not required to work. Before we became
priests the people looked upon us as vagabonds; now they almost
worship us.” Yet in most instances the only change is the shaven head
and yellow robe and the alms-bowl. Some Buddhist monks are devout,
spending their lives in wats, or in forests and caves as hermits,
meditating on the virtues of Buddha and striving to attain Nipan. Over
these exceptional studious and moral monks Buddhism doubtless exerts a
restraining influence, yet even such lives are dreary, and manifest
little zeal constraining to efforts for national reform.
The ceremonial details of wat-life are monotonous. Monks rise at
daybreak. At about seven the streets of Bangkok are crowded with these
yellow-robed gentry paddled around with their rice-bowls from door to
door. At eight they return to breakfast in a large hall, which, with
the kitchen and its enormous rice-boilers, is worthy of a passing
look. The last meal of the day is taken before noon. Priests are
supposed to devote themselves to meditation and study, but the
majority are illiterate and often vicious――“idleness personified.”
About sunset, assembled for united prayer, their loud singsong drawl
can be heard some distance off. The beating of a drum closes the
wat-day.
Each chapter is under the direction of a chief priest, and the larger
ones have a sort of second chief priest. Their authority is confined
to reproof, and in extreme cases to expulsion. They can only enforce
the rules of the order.
Wats built by the royal family or nobility are called _Wat Hluang_, or
“royal wats.” The wats of the people are _Wat Ratsadom_. Church and
State are one. The king is supreme in religion as in the government,
and appoints two hierarchs――one for the north and one for the south.
The title of this high priest is Pra Sang Karat, and he resides in one
of the chief wats, and has no spiritual or temporal authority except
over the wats and monks. He has an assistant second only in rank. No
priest is qualified to ordain without a license from the Sang Karat.
Then come the Somdet Chows, from whom the head-priests of the royal
wats are chosen――the abbots of the great monasteries, I suppose we
would call them. The Tananookans, one of whom assists each
head-priest, are next in clerical rank. The head-priests of the common
people’s wats are called Sompans. Lastly come the mass of ordinary
priests, among whom there are Palats and other minor officers, who
take a certain rank above the ordinary brotherhood. The _Nains_, or
novitiates, are not included in the above classes, though they too don
the yellow robes, shave their heads and fast as their elders. A lad
must be at least eight years old and receive the consent of his
parents before becoming a priest. He usually begins his connection
with the wat as a pupil, living for some years under the care of some
priest who is a friend of the family.
Worldly concerns connected with wats are in the hands of secular
attendants clad in white, who also perform the menial services about
the grounds and at funerals. We would call them sextons.
Nuns are not numerous in Siam. The profession does not command
respect. The people look upon it as a more respectable mode of
begging. Those who take such vows are mostly poor old women, who wear
white and live in humble huts near, but not within, the wat-grounds.
When the king pays his annual visit to the royal wats, on entering the
temple he takes off his shoes, then, lifting his hands containing the
offerings above his head, he bows low before the image of Buddha. He
concludes by making similar obeisance to the superior priests and
bestowing the customary gifts. The chief priests and monks sit unmoved
during the ceremony.
No one can be long in Siam without being astonished at the large part
which the wat occupies as a social centre in the every-day life of the
people. The Siamese traveler rests in the salas. You meet a Siamese
woman and ask where she is going; the probability is she is on her
road to some temple to make merit with her offerings or by listening
to preaching. Go to the priests’ quarters, and you find there not only
a large proportion of the fathers, brothers and older sons, but mere
children of seven and eight years old. The bodies of the dead are
carried there to be burned. The people also frequently meet together
at the different temples to make feasts and give presents to their
priests.
The wats outside of Bangkok, though the buildings are generally of
cheaper construction, occupy delightful sites and have extensive
grounds. Dr. McFarland, going to Petchaburee, stopped at the sala of a
country wat. “We found the grounds,” he says, “crowded with men and
boys in great excitement, evidently awaiting some unusual occurrence.
Presently boats began to arrive and unload their treasures of fruit
and depart, perhaps for more. Before our company had all finished
their breakfast we found it difficult to keep our place at the
landing. We were told that this was a _lakon_. This immense gathering
of fruits and other offerings is presented with ceremonies of music
and dancing to their god, and afterward the priests stow it away and
feast upon it for many days to come. Thus spending the day in
amusement, at the same time they make merit for the future. Some
things in this heathen ceremony reminded the missionary of the county
fairs he had attended in the West, crowds of people――men, women and
children――in their richest apparel, bringing their choicest fruit and
most valuable articles, but not for exhibition; they come to spend the
day in frolic and offer their fruits to a heathen deity.”
The Siamese wat embodies “a theory which extracted and remodeled the
best ideas of ancient Brahmanism――a religion that has not only been
able to subsist for more than two thousand years, but which has drawn
within the meshes of its own peculiar church organization, and brought
more or less under the influence of its peculiar tenets, fully
one-third of the human race. Such a system ought to have enough
importance in our eyes to deserve something more than passing or
passive attention.”
This study of a Siamese wat gives us the practical aspects of this
much-vaunted creed in the hands of the common people, proving that the
influence of these great centres of classic Buddhism hinders the
material prosperity and dwarfs the intellectual and moral development
of the nation. Allowing full credit for its good precepts, the visitor
who closely studies the actual outworkings of the Buddhist wat finds a
worship that degrades; alms-giving that floods the land with sturdy,
lazy beggars; a monastic system that encourages violation of the
sacred family ties; and in not a few instances hotbeds of vice for the
most promising youth of the kingdom.
But Buddhism is losing ground in Siam. One of the earliest signs of
progress was a royal order years ago which reduced the vast number of
inmates of the wats. On the eve of war with Cochin-China the king,
wishing to draw a large number of soldiers, found multitudes had taken
refuge in the priesthood. A set of questions was therefore drawn up,
and notice given that all priests who failed to pass a satisfactory
examination were to be degraded and sent to war at the king’s
pleasure. Thousands were frightened from their cool, costly wats back
to their bamboo huts. It is said four hundred deserted a single wat in
less than a week.
Moreover, in the late zeal for reform some principal festivals have
been given up. The wat-visitations are now mostly looked upon as
national gala-days for popular display, lively music, theatricals and
boat-races. The present building of temples and religious ceremonials
are far more largely from motives of pride and political expediency
than matters of faith. The present king and many of the younger nobles
are too enlightened to be devout Buddhists.
Two significant signs may be noted to show the change. “We came,” says
a late traveler in Siam, “to the Wat Sah Kate pagoda, situated in a
vast enclosure, containing, after the usual arrangement, two or three
temples, with huge gilt images of Buddha within, a large building for
preaching, the dwellings of the priests and many pavilions for the use
of worshipers; but the grounds were in a very dilapidated state. The
king had recently turned adrift all the priests, several hundred of
them, to earn an honest living by hard work, and so the wat was closed
to the public.” The other fact is equally hopeful――a new interest on
the part of the rulers of the land in the education of the young.
Until recently the Siamese kings have spent comparatively little on
public works which are common to other countries of Asia――bridges,
roads, schools and hospitals――but lavished their treasures on the
wats. But a recent letter mentions the latest _in memoriam_ of a
Buddhist princess: “I wish much I could get you a good photograph of
the new school-building, the one that is being erected to the memory
of the late queen. As it approaches completion it is looking very
handsome, and might be a beautiful tribute to the memory of a queen of
a much more civilized country.”
[Illustration: RUINS OF A TEMPLE AND STATUE OF BUDDHA AT AYUTHIA.]
PART III.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
CHAPTER XVIII.
_HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SIAM._
Of immense advantage to the Buddhist faith, and equally an obstacle to
the development of any other religion, is the fact that Siamese
history, on being traced back beyond the middle of the fourteenth
century, becomes chaotic and obscure, affording abundant opportunity
to the priests to fabricate any ingenious theories which they may
desire. By a splendid piece of flattery they have taught the Siamese
sovereigns that they are lineal descendants of Buddha, and that the
people themselves have sprung from his first disciples. Thus ruler and
people are alike interested in the support of a religious system which
is identified with their own origin. Through all the early periods of
their history the miracles of Buddha are interspersed with a lavish
hand. Ancient matrimonial alliances of the Siamese princes with all
other leading monarchs of the world, and imposing embassies and
fabulous wars with neighboring countries, and no end of marvelous
legends of a mythological character, are also woven into the doubtful
narrative.
The best historian that the country has had was the late king, father
of the present ruler, who, owing to a usurpation of his rightful
sovereignty by an elder and illegitimate brother, was led to spend
some years in a Buddhist monastery, where he gave himself to study and
became, under the circumstances, a rather remarkable scholar.
According to his authority, King Tuang as early as A. D. 457
introduced the Siamese alphabet, which he handed over to a conclave of
Buddhist priests. His reign was distinguished by the possession of a
white elephant with black tusks!――a very important fact from a Siamese
point of view.
Authentic history, however, begins with A. D. 1350, from which date
the succession of kings is directly traced. The ancient capital of
Ayuthia, which was then established, occupied the site of a still more
ancient ruined city. There had been frequent wars with the Laos and
the princes of Pegu, involving an obscure succession of dynasties.
For about two hundred years the kingdom enjoyed peace, and Ayuthia
became a great and wealthy capital. In 1556, however, the king of Pegu
again conquered the country, though upon the death of the king the
Siamese princes, to whom the throne properly belonged, regained the
power.
About the middle of the seventeenth century the country received a
great impulse in civilization from a Greek merchant, Constantine
Faulkon, who through skill and success in business and his general
public spirit, became a great favorite of the king and his court, and
who seems to have devoted himself to the introduction of European
improvements of every kind. He received from the king the highest
titles, with great power and influence. Under his direction forts were
built on the banks of the Menam and new palaces were erected. He also
built a church, the ruins of which still exist. He greatly improved
the canal system, which is almost as important to Bangkok and Lower
Siam as that of Holland is to it. Aqueducts were constructed also for
supplying the city with water from the neighboring mountains. At
length, becoming an object of envy on the part of Siamese officials,
he was assassinated.
In 1759 the king of Burmah with an immense army laid siege to Ayuthia,
which, after two years, was compelled to surrender. The king was
slain, and a long struggle followed, after which, in 1767, the
Burmese, having gained complete possession of the country, appointed a
king of Peguan origin to hold the sceptre. By this time the country
was full of armed bands of outlaws, who, like the Saxons under the
Norman Conquest, proved irrepressible, and after the withdrawal of the
Burmese army anarchy bore sway.
AN AMBITIOUS CHINAMAN ON THE SIAMESE THRONE.
Among the leaders of these robber-bands was a shrewd and valiant
Chinaman bearing the name of Pin Tat. This man, at the time
thirty-three years of age and of unbounded ambition, rose by a series
of military and civil promotions to the very highest influence. What
his sword could not achieve in battle his _finesse_ and bribery
completed. Betraying the high trusts reposed in him, and gathering to
his standard all available robbers and pirates, he was enabled to
dictate terms to the government until he gained possession of all the
northern districts. He then marched with a large force against the
Burmese governor of Bangkok, whom he surprised and put to death,
availing himself of his treasures as his “sinews of war.”
He was now strong enough to overcome the Burmese at every point; and
so thoroughly did he succeed in ridding the country from their
thraldom that he won the gratitude of the people, who gladly favored
his assumption of royal authority. He displayed great genius in the
administration of affairs, colonized and rebuilt the devastated
districts of the country, and, profiting by a sanguinary war between
China and Burmah, conquered new territory on the north. It was during
his reign that the Siamese power was extended far down the Malay
Peninsula, whose governor he captured, and finally, through a
matrimonial alliance with his daughter, placed him in power as a
tributary. This remarkable Chinaman, after a reign of fifteen years
under the title of Phya-Jak, sank into a state of melancholy, and was
assassinated in 1782.
In the early part of the present century the English endeavored to
negotiate a treaty with Siam, but with little success, and it was not
until 1826 that negotiations in that direction were crowned with
success. It was soon after that the first Protestant missions were
established. We find Dr. Gutslaf in Bangkok in 1828, where he finished
the translation of the New Testament into Siamese. In 1830 he
revisited Siam, and translated a part of the Scriptures into the
languages of Cambodia and the Laos. The American Baptists founded
their mission to the Chinese in Siam soon after. The Presbyterian
mission was founded in 1840, and that of the American Board (since
discontinued) in 1850.
The Roman Catholics had gained a footing previous to 1780, but in that
year they were expelled on pain of death. They gradually reappeared.
In 1851 the illegitimate brother of the late king, who had usurped his
power as related above, died, and the rightful prince, Chao Phra,
ascended the throne under the name of Somdet Phra. His taste for
learning led him also to adopt a more enlightened policy with respect
to other nations. The French Catholic bishop Pallegoix at once
addressed to him a letter of congratulation, and presented him with a
portrait of Napoleon III., then President of the French Republic. In
return for this courtesy the king revoked the decree of banishment
against the Catholics, and in 1852 sent voluntary messengers to
Napoleon and to the pope. To the latter he sent an autograph letter
_written in English_. At the same time this enlightened king employed
an English governess to instruct his children. The progressive
character of the present king is undoubtedly due in part to the
influences under which his education was conducted.
The French have continued to exert considerable influence, perhaps the
English still more, while for the Americans the king has expressed his
respect more fully than for any others.
Not one half century ago Siam was sealed against the entrance of all
foreigners, whether as traders or missionaries. To-day she is in
treaty relation with all Christian countries, and the present king
desires that these treaty relations shall be most faithfully observed.
In the city of Bangkok there are large business-houses conducted by
foreign merchants. The flags of all countries float over the city.
Steam rice-mills are developing rice-culture: steam saw-mills are
creating a large trade in valuable lumber. Foreigners are also
beginning to erect steam-mills in other parts of the land. Good
inducements are offered to foreigners to enter the various departments
of trade, and full protection is given.
The king of Siam has been classed among the most humane and liberal of
heathen monarchs. He has manifested his desire in many ways for the
improvement of his country and people. Near his palace in Bangkok may
be found a large substantial building known as the “Royal Mint,”
furnished with improved machinery from Europe. It furnishes beautiful
copper coins, a good substitute for the little shells and pieces of
lead used as money a few years ago; also handsome silver coins, a
decided improvement on the round, bullet-shaped silver coins of the
last reign. Near this mint may be found comfortable barracks for the
royal soldiers, and near this the Royal Museum, containing much of
interest from the countries of the world. This institution has an
educational influence, for its doors are open a few days in each year
to all the people in the kingdom.
The king has also short telegraph-lines, and is now surveying and
negotiating for telegraphic communication with the outside world. A
line is proposed over to British Burmah, and another over to Saigon in
French Cochin-China.
The king has also issued an order for a postal system [since carried
into effect]. In the mandate are these words: “His Majesty the king
observes that the commerce of the capital and provinces of Siam is
greatly in excess of former times, and that whatever is a means of
advancing the happiness and prosperity of the people will tend to the
national glory. His Majesty has determined to foster the commerce and
welfare of the people, that they shall be ever progressive.” Orders
have been issued for directories, numbers on houses, etc., etc. We may
therefore hope that Siam will soon be in the postal union of the world
and abreast with the age.
In 1882, Siam had its centennial celebration of the establishment of
Bangkok as capital. The king in his annual speech, made the previous
October, said: “The exhibition will be given so that the people may
observe the difference between the methods used to earn a living one
hundred years ago and those now used, and see what progress has been
made, and note the plants and fruits useful for trade and the improved
means of living. We believe this exhibition will be beneficial to the
country.”
The king also desires the education of Siam’s people, as manifest in
his establishing a college under the guidance of one of our
missionaries as minister of public instruction. A general educational
system may be expected.
THE BANGKOK CENTENNIAL.
Miss Mary Hartwell of Bangkok describes the centennial anniversary of
the establishment of the present dynasty and of that city as the
capital. These two events were celebrated by an exhibition in which
was shown the progress made during the century in the various arts and
manufactures:
“Nothing in the late Siamese Exposition was more significant than its
school-exhibit. The Royal College was solicited to make an exhibit
representing the work done in the school. This consisted chiefly of
specimens of writing in Siamese and English, translations and
solutions of problems in arithmetic, the school-furniture, the
text-books used, and the various helps employed in teaching, such as
the microscope, magnets, electric batteries, etc. The Siamese mind is
peculiarly adapted to picking up information by looking at things and
asking questions, and it is believed that this exhibit will not only
enhance the reputation of the college, but give the Siamese some new
ideas on the subject of education.
[Illustration: ATTACHÉ OF SIAMESE EMBASSY: COURT COSTUME IN 1883.]
“Miss Olmstead and I, together with our assistant, Ma Tuen, have been
training little fingers in fancy-work, or rather overseeing the
finishing up of things, to go into the exhibition. April 25 we placed
our mats, tidies, afghans, rugs, cushions, needle-books, edgings,
work-bags and lambrequins in the cases allotted to our school in the
Queen’s Room, and on the 26th we were again at our post as exhibitors
to receive His Majesty the king and give him our salutations upon his
first entrance at the grand opening. While we were looking for him in
one direction he suddenly entered from another, followed by his
brothers and other members of his court and the consular dignitaries.
We did not see him until he had walked up the long and magnificent
hall and was within half a dozen paces of us. He was dressed in a
perfectly-fitting suit of navy-blue broadcloth, without any gaudy
trappings, and never did he wear a more becoming suit. His face was
radiant with joy, and his quick, elastic step soon brought him to us.
He uttered an exclamation of pleasure at seeing us there, shook our
hands most cordially, took a hasty survey of our exhibits, and then
cried out with boyish enthusiasm, ‘These things are beautiful, mem;
did you make them?’――‘Oh no,’ I responded; ‘we taught the children,
and they made them.’――‘Have you many scholars?’ was his next
question.――‘About thirty-one,’ I answered. Turning again to the cases,
he exclaimed emphatically, ‘They are beautiful things! and I am coming
back to look at them carefully――am in haste now.’ And off he went to
look at the other unviewed departments. Since then we see by the paper
published in Bangkok that His Majesty has paid the girls’ school of
Bangkok the high compliment of declaring himself the purchaser of the
collection, and has attached his name to the cases.
“The centennial is voted a success by all. There are fifty-four
departments, and each is handsomely arranged, reflecting great credit
upon the Siamese. The Queen’s Room is the richest and grandest of all.
It is devoted to the royal jewels――that is, all such as are owned and
worn by the queen and princesses; clothing made of gold-lace cloth and
gold-embroidered cloth of heavier but fine texture; embroidery on
satin, such as cushions, curtains and bed-spreads; embroidery in
worsteds; vessels of gold, silver and a combination of gold and
copper, fine carved work in ivory and artificial flowers of gold and
silver. The royal jewels are arranged on a pyramid about ten feet high
and shut in by a glass cover. The whole is placed under a pagoda of
bright blue, trimmed with white, which spreads out over it, but does
not hide the jewels. The latter consist of rings, anklets, bracelets,
ear-jewels and necklaces. The collection of these diamonds, emeralds
and other precious stones is valued at five million dollars, to say
nothing of the gold lunch-baskets eighteen inches in height and as
much or more in circumference, the solid gold soup-dishes and ladles,
the tea-pots, betel-trays, meat-dishes and a thousand other things
made of the same precious materials, and many of silver also. This
magnificence is beyond description in such narrow limits as a letter.
Scarlet and gold are freely mingled in cloth, and everything is
gorgeous that meets the eye in that room. The exhibition buildings
radiate from a high domed theatre in the central part of the grounds,
and these again have halls crossing their extremities, in the form of
our Capitol. The Queen’s Room and the one adjoining, decorated
constantly with fresh-cut flowers (under the supervision of the
queen’s sister, herself also a wife of the king), are the only rooms
enclosed with substantial teak-wood boards alternating with ornamental
glass windows, the whole forming nicely-finished and beautiful walls.
The second king’s department is next in beauty of finish, and then
come those of the highest princes. All have vied with each other in
their attempt to make the finest show. On Friday preceding the opening
the king dedicated a monument to the founder of the present dynasty,
and one to some other dead man (I forget his name), and they had a
wonderful procession. The king was borne in state on a royal litter,
and was dressed in his suit of gold-cloth and wore his crown of gold
and diamonds. He looked just like an idol. He had to sit so erect and
still, he appeared almost as motionless as the images you see in the
pictures of the idol gods, except that with his left hand he dipped
silver coins out of a bowl of solid gold which was fixed on the post
of the litter and threw them broadcast with his right hand at
intervals. How the children and common people did struggle to obtain
those little coins! The procession was made up of soldiers from the
cavalry, artillery and infantry, and there were also many bands of
soldiers equipped with the spear, the battle-axe, the bow and arrow,
and all sorts of ancient weapons such as were used a hundred years
ago. I think that was a proud day for the king, but if I could judge
from his face, the opening day of the Centennial Exhibition was the
proudest, happiest day of his life. His face beamed with joy, and
every word, look and movement denoted keen satisfaction with all his
eyes beheld. We are praying that good results may follow――far better
than His Majesty anticipated.”
RECENT EVENTS.
[From the _Siam Weekly Advertiser_, September 22, 1883.]
“His Majesty, the king of Siam, has graciously responded to the appeal
in behalf of the Netherlands India sufferers [from the volcanic
eruptions and earthquakes in Java] by sending a telegraphic despatch
of sympathy to the governor-general and a donation of $4800. Her
Majesty, the queen of Siam, has likewise most graciously given a
donation for the same purpose of $4200.
“The line of telegraph from Bangkok to Saigon in French Cochin-China,
recently completed, which on the 16th of July last put Siam in
immediate communication with the rest of the world, is working most
successfully, as is also the local mail system, which this progressive
ruler has just established in the capital of his dominions. Of these
he speaks in his royal speech in reply to the congratulations tendered
him on his thirtieth birthday, September 21, 1883:
“… ‘This year has been especially marked by the opening of telegraphic
communication _viâ_ Saigon with Europe and the world. We are well
pleased by the energy with which our commissioners and the provincial
officers labored in erecting this line, and we gladly take occasion to
thank the government of French Cochin-China, the consulate of France
at Bangkok and the French engineers who assisted in its construction.
“‘Our commissioners and provincial officers have also with great
rapidity set up a line to the frontier of Tavoy, and when the British
portion is completed, next season, we shall be doubly linked to the
telegraph-lines pervading the world.
“‘The post-office now delivers letters with regularity throughout the
capital and its suburbs. The use made of it has surprisingly exceeded
our expectations, as we did not think that Siamese would write so many
letters. We are now most desirous to extend the postal service
throughout Siam to the great advantage of trade and good government,
and when that is done we hope, as invited by the postmaster-general of
Germany, to extend our correspondence through the world by entering
the postal union.’”
CHAPTER XIX.
_MISSIONARY LADIES IN THE KING’S PALACE._
Paint to your fancy a village of curious Oriental houses, with a high,
thick wall, three miles in circuit, surrounding it. In this village,
or miniature city, are the king’s quarters. Here are temple-grounds
with their temples and idols and all their rich adornings, whither
people of many generations have gone to worship at shrines which their
own hands have made. Here are the dwellings of the king’s wives and
the residences of the princesses, old and young, who cannot be allowed
to marry beneath their royal rank. Each lady has a separate house and
has her retinue of servants――all women. There is also a market,
conducted entirely by women. The census of the dwellers in this palace
was once taken, and it amounted to three thousand females. This
included the king’s wives, princesses with their servants, the
market-women and the female officers of the court.
In 1851 the priest-prince came to the throne. He was the son of a
queen, and he looked upon his older brother (the son of an inferior
wife, and who had gained possession of the throne) as a usurper. Rumor
had it that he entered the priesthood that he might avoid bowing down
before his brother the king. However this may be, he assumed the
yellow robes and shaven head and entered a wat, where he gained the
eminence of high priest. There he remained during his brother’s reign.
In the wat he gave himself up to study, in which he made great
proficiency, considering his circumstances. In his brother’s reign the
Christian missionaries were kept under strict surveillance, and were
not allowed to obtain homes anywhere in the kingdom excepting in
Bangkok, the capital. The priest-prince frequently visited them in
their homes, and became familiar with their work and learned the
object of their coming to Siam. He took up the study of the English
language, and for a time employed the Rev. Mr. Caswell, one of the
missionaries, as teacher, giving him in turn the privilege of
preaching in his wat-grounds. I recall some of his visits to us. One
evening he was attracted by the picture of a tree which I had
carefully drawn with my pencil while in America, and which had been
beautifully touched up by my accomplished teacher. It hung upon the
dark teak-wood wall of our drawing-room. He seemed surprised that with
the hand and a mere pencil a picture could be made so much like a fine
engraving. We gave him the picture. One night he came to one of our
mission-homes where there was a prayer-meeting. He remained until it
was over, and, accepting a hymn-book, followed the words of the hymn
sung.
He was attracted by the word “redemption,” and when the prayers were
over he said to one near him, “Redemption? What is it?” It was a new
English word to him, and he wished to know its meaning, but the way he
put the question seemed striking: “_Redemption? What is it?_” May each
one who reads this know experimentally what _redemption_ is!
Now, these years in the wat, when the prince could spend his time in
study and improve his mind by mingling with the good and true, both in
books and out of them, prepared him for a great advance when he came
to the throne. The courtiers and nobles of the kingdom determined his
succession, and when his brother passed away his yellow robes were
laid aside for the robes of the prince and he was borne to the king’s
quarters.
[Illustration: THE LATE FIRST KING AND QUEEN.]
When his coronation was over and he was firmly seated in power he
ordered an invitation which surprised us all. Missionary ladies were
invited to go to his palace and teach his royal household in the
English language. We considered this a providence which could not be
passed lightly, although we could not expect these ladies, so
accustomed to easy leisure, to make much progress in a language so
difficult as the English.
It was decided that Mrs. Bradley of the American Missionary
Association, Mrs. Smith of the Baptist mission, and Mrs. Mattoon of
the Presbyterian mission, should commence this unique work. They
arranged for each to go to the palace two days in the week. These
visits were continued for about three years, and in pleasant harmony
did this trio of ladies pursue their work.
The palace is on the left bank of the beautiful river Menam. Near the
bank of the river is a large, curiously-roofed open house. From our
boats we ascend a flight of steps and enter it. Passing through its
spacious area, we go into an avenue with high, thick walls, in which
are heavy gates. At the end of this avenue we come to the great heavy
front gate of the palace. Inside are open salas, with platforms and
screens, where the gatekeeper (an elderly woman) and a company of
women and children are assembled every day.
Our appointments were all in order. A female officer, Chow Roon Tum
Nuk Mai, had been ordered by the king to prepare for our reception. At
the river-house we were met by an elderly servant, who received our
basket of books and whatever we had to carry, and led us through the
windings of the way to our appointed place of teaching――through the
river-house, through the avenue mentioned, through the palace-gate,
through a wat-ground, by a market-place, and through narrow streets to
our teaching-hall. Here were assembled the king’s young wives and the
princesses of the blood. Curiosity and a desire to please the king
brought them together, and lessons in English were made the order of
the hour. The wives of the king selected for English study were
pretty, bright young girls, worthy of a far better and happier fate
than they could possibly find in the harem of any king. Some of the
princesses were fine, noble-looking women, who comforted themselves in
their lonely lives by reflecting that they were not obliged to share a
husband’s love with scores of others.
As was expected, these royal ladies dropped away from the English
class, and ere long none were left excepting a few young wives of the
king who were ambitious to please His Majesty and to be able to
converse with him in English. As the ladies left the English class,
they wished us to visit them in their homes; which we did, taking with
us our Christian books in Siamese, which some of them were fond of
reading. I remember a servant of one of the princesses who eagerly
read our books, and would give us a full account of what she had read
in one book before receiving another.
The little English class was continued, and books and maps were
procured for its persevering members. They made commendable progress,
though often interrupted by fêtes and festivals and play-days. One of
them one day asked me with seriousness what could be done to make the
king young. On the spur of the moment I replied, “Oh, have him advance
in knowledge and goodness; that will keep him young.” The answer, so
unpremeditated, pleased the young wife. I think she whispered it in
the ear of the king, to his great satisfaction and delight, for he had
a very homely as well as old face.
The king was called Chon Chewitt (“lord of life”), and woe betide the
one who would dare to cross his will! One day I was conversing with
these young wives, when one of them whispered, “Hush! hush!” I
inquired the reason, and she significantly pointed toward the king’s
quarters and drew her hand across her neck, as much as to say, “To
converse on such a subject might displease His Majesty, and he could
take off our heads.” I was credibly informed that he ordered one of
his wives to be put in chains and in prison for forgetting to wear a
certain ring which he had ordered to be worn on a certain day. One of
our pupils, a sweet-faced young girl, stole the king’s spectacles, and
sold them――to increase her spending-money, I suppose. I asked to be
led to her quarters, thinking I might be of some service to her. I
went, and upon arriving at the place, a sort of enclosed court with
open rooms, I inquired for her, and her pleasant face peeped out from
behind a screen, where she was confined, and returned my salutations.
She seemed totally untroubled by her situation; its commonness made
the disgrace unfelt, I suppose. Presently a female officer passed and
turned a stern eye upon me, and I quietly left, seeing that I could be
of no service there.
The king we seldom saw. There was to be a procession on the river one
day, and His Majesty, with the ladies of the court, was to go to the
river’s edge to view it. The ladies invited me to accompany them, and
I did so, and sat with them at some distance from the king. His
Majesty recognized me among them, and called me to him. I approached
him as I would approach the President of the United States. He
received me with politeness and pleasant salutations, and handed me
the glass with which he was viewing the procession. I received it from
his hand, and with it watched for a while the pageant as it slowly
moved over the river. I then returned the glass, bade His Majesty
adieu and returned to my seat among the princesses. For their sakes I
was glad of this little episode, for in those days Siamese etiquette
required inferiors to prostrate themselves upon hands and knees, with
faces to the earth, before superiors. In this position their
salutation was to place their hands together, touch them to the
forehead and bow to the floor or earth. In this painful attitude even
the princes and nobles always appeared before His Majesty, and the
custom prevailed throughout all the ranks. The elbows and knees of the
king’s courtiers were hard and callous, as they were obliged so often
to be in attendance upon His Majesty.
One day I was visiting a very friendly princess, a daughter of the
late king. She was delighted with our calls. On this occasion I found
her lame and sore. It was at the time when the young queen was sick
unto death. Under such circumstances the king deigns to be present in
the sick chamber, and this princess was one among the number called to
wait upon His Majesty. In carrying out his orders they were obliged to
crawl upon their hands and knees, and her knees were all blistered by
the day’s waiting. I could not refrain from saying, “Why, we are not
made like cats and dogs! We are made to walk upright.” This remark
pleased her, and after thinking a few moments she said, “How true! and
how much easier and nicer to walk upright!” But, thinking a few
moments more, she said, “But, ah, it cannot be done here.” Sure
enough, such is the power of custom that it could not be done then and
there, but influences were at work which would gradually undo those
hard, servile customs. When those princesses saw me walk upright in
the presence of the king they would naturally think, “Why are we not
permitted to do the same?” and thus one little step is taken to remove
the shackles.
One day, as our attendant was leading me to our teaching-hall, we were
near meeting a lady of high rank with her long train of servants. Now,
I did not require my attendant to crouch before me, and she would
naturally infer that with her I would prostrate myself in the presence
of this lady of rank. So, touching my arm, she warned me of the
approach of the royal personage, expecting me to meet her as an
inferior and prostrate myself before her. “Oh,” I said, “I am an
American; our customs are different from yours.” I had met this lady
before, and she knew me and met me with a pleasant salutation, while
my attendant and all the train of maidens were down to the earth in a
moment. Now, the natural thought among these prostrate ones would be,
“Here is a person who stands on a footing with our great ones, yet she
does not require us to prostrate ourselves before her.” Little by
little are such miserable customs worn away by persistent Christian
effort.
Our visits to the houses of the different ladies of the palace became
more and more extended. These houses were not the clean, sweet,
pleasant homes of an intelligent Christianity. Only a few of them had
much that was attractive about them. In many of them flowers were
cultivated, and they wrought in fancy-work. For their gala-days their
servants would bring in large quantities of flowers, which they would
turn into fanciful forms to grace the festive occasions.
One day I was seated with a princess upon an elevated platform in her
court. She and her maidens were at work with artificial flowers, and a
cup of paste and vessels with the parts of the flowers and leaves were
scattered here and there among them. All at once a pet monkey which
had become loose marched to the stage and suddenly appeared among us.
Undaunted, he walked about, put his nose into the cup of paste and
tipped it over, passed his paws over the delicate parts prepared for
the complete flowers and made himself master of the situation. I sat
in mute consternation, while the princess and her maidens seemed as
quiet as if no monkey were there. By and by he marched around to a
place where a servant could secure him, and she made him fast. I asked
why they allowed him to march around their work and commit such
depredations. “Ah,” said one of them, “if we had attempted to take him
then, he would have bitten us and would have made greater havoc among
our flowers; better to wait till he works himself into a place where
he can be secured without danger.”
I have kept one of the sisters of the king very pleasantly in memory.
Her bearing was noble and lady-like, and with a fair opportunity she
would have graced the palace of any king. She read our Christian
books, and seemed interested in them. One day we had a long
conversation upon the Christian religion. She remarked that my
religion was good and that her religion was good, and she spoke of the
deeds of merit she had done. “Yes,” I replied, “wherein they agree
they are both alike good, but in some things they do not at all agree.
In the Christian religion we believe in one God, the great Jehovah,
who created all things and who is from everlasting to everlasting. In
the Buddhist religion you have made a human philosopher a god. The
great Jehovah has forbidden the worship of idols, but your country is
full of them, and the name of the true God is taken in vain. The great
Jehovah has commanded us to set apart one day in seven for his
worship, but in your religion this is not observed. We believe in the
great eternal One described in our Bible, who made these beautiful
flowers and made our wonderful bodies with their spirit-life――who
created the heavens above us and the earth beneath us and all things.
This great eternal One has given his Son to be a Redeemer to all who
will come to him and repent of sin. These things make the Christian
religion different from yours.” The dear lady thoughtfully replied,
“These things I must look into; I have not thought of them before.” I
sincerely hope she did look into them, and was brought to reverence
and adore the great Jehovah through the merits of Jesus Christ.
We did not rudely intrude the tenets of our religion upon them, but
always answered kind inquiries and freely gave our opinions. In this
way they would frequently be led to acknowledge the superiority of our
customs over theirs. In the matter of polygamy many high in station in
their quiet moments, in private conversation, would acknowledge it to
be a very bad thing, and the king seemed happy in saying that he had
fewer wives than any of his predecessors. When Christianity reigns in
full power this giant evil will be for ever banished from our world.
By persistent Christian effort, with law on its side, may we not hope
that it will be speedily driven from our own dear country for ever?
After three years, during which time our visits to the palace were
kept up quite regularly, they came to a close. One day Mrs. Smith
started for her day at the palace. Our attendant was not at the
river-house to meet her; but at other times she had not been there,
and we found our own way in the palace-grounds; so Mrs. Smith
proceeded to the palace-gate. But the gatekeeper was not to be seen,
nor any of her company, and Mrs. Smith left. We all felt that this
probably meant that our teaching in the palace must cease. But as it
seemed possible that the gate-women might be away attending some
festival for the time, I went the next day, to make sure. There was no
attendant at the river-house, and as I passed up the avenue for the
palace-gate a Siamese woman stepped into the avenue from a side gate
just before me. The moment she saw me she darted back, plainly showing
that an order had been given, and that it was understood. I proceeded
to the gate where we had so often passed in and out. As I drew near
there was a rustle and a rush to hide from my presence. I called out
pleasantly in Siamese, asking if they would not open the gate for me,
but no answer came excepting the suppressed laughter of some young
girls hiding behind the screens. We quietly accepted the evident
intention of the king, and our teaching in the palace ceased.
It was thought that some of the ladies were becoming interested in
Christianity, but of this we could not be sure. Some years after this
time His Majesty advertised for an English teacher for his children,
with the strict proviso that the Christian religion should have no
place in the teaching. To break from settled customs might cost him
his throne. Worldly policy! How many with high Christian intelligence
it has kept from the right and true! Need we wonder at this heathen
king? With great infirmities he had some noble traits. He owed more to
the Christian religion than he would be willing to allow. When Mr.
Mattoon was about leaving Siam he went to the palace to bid the king
adieu. In the interview His Majesty acknowledged his belief in the
true God――the “Supreme Agency,” as he termed it. He has passed away
since then, and his son is now on the throne. Many happy changes have
been wrought out, and we constantly pray that the great and best
change may come――that every idol may be cast away and loyalty to the
great Jehovah may be written upon every heart in Siam.
TEACHING IN THE PALACE OF THE KING OF SIAM IN 1880.
The following letter from Maa Tuan, matron of the girls’
boarding-school at Bangkok, was partially translated from the Siamese
and partially dictated to one of the missionary ladies. She is a most
efficient, earnest Christian worker, a “living witness” among these
people. She has been a Christian for years, her father being literally
the “first-fruits” of Presbyterian effort in Siam.
MAA TUAN’S LETTER.
A nobleman, the brother of Koon Lin, a former pupil in the school, who
is now, with her sister Juan, in the royal palace――the latter being a
wife of His Majesty the king――asked me to come to the palace and teach
his sisters during the two months of vacation.
I lived in the royal harem for one month, and I think it will interest
your friends to have me tell you some of the things I saw while there.
It is said that within the palace-walls there are about one thousand
women, wives, slaves and servants, as no man is permitted to live
there except His Majesty the king. I should judge that about thirty of
these women are wives of the king. Many of these wives, with their
servants, live in a long brick building which stands near the palace.
Eight of the king’s half-sisters and the only daughter of the regent
of the Belur are the highest in position, and their rooms in the harem
are more richly and beautifully furnished than those of the other
wives. The rooms of the king’s favorite, Peahong Sawang (one of his
half-sisters), are three in number. The first is trimmed with pink
silk, another blue and the third green. Even the windows and door are
colored, and all is very beautiful to the eye.
Peahong Sawang is the mother of the oldest son of His Majesty, who is
now about two years of age. To be the mother of a royal son is quite
an honor in the harem, and it is only male offspring of the king, _by
one of his sisters_, that can inherit the throne.
I lived in the harem with the women, and saw and talked with them all
very often. They were quite friendly, though they knew that I had
given up their religion, and would not bow to the image of Buddha,
which they worshiped every night, offering flowers and burning of
fragrant wood. These women sit in idleness all the day long, unless
sent for to go to the palace. They often tried to persuade me to
return to Buddhism, giving me one of their books to read instead of my
Bible, which I had with me, and making sport of me, saying, ‘Ah, you
were once in the light, but now you are walking in the darkness.’ But
my heart did not mind what they said; I told them of the religion of
Jesus, and, going by myself, I prayed to Jesus to help them. My
business there was to teach Koon Lin and Koon Juan to translate
Siamese into English. Both these girls were pupils of Mrs. Dr. House,
and speak very lovingly of her. Koon Lin still has the English Bible
Mrs. House gave her, and translated from it every day. She said that
when she was in school she believed its teachings, but now she was
indifferent, it was all so different in the palace.
The police who have charge of the royal harem are women, and night and
day close watch is kept that no one goes out or comes in without their
permission. Any one not known to the guards is searched at the door of
entrance. Every afternoon at four o’clock the gates of the palace are
locked. On my way to the market near I could often see the king as he
walked in his royal palace, which is higher than other buildings. In
the courtyard below the native children played noisily, which the king
did not seem to mind. This is very different from the old king, before
whom all must bow or fall on their faces.
CHAPTER XX.
_CORONATION OF HIS MAJESTY THE SUPREME KING OF SIAM._
The Siamese monarchy is not hereditary――that is, not in the sense that
that term is understood in Europe. There is what is called the
_Senabodee_, or royal counselors, consisting of the chief ministers of
state, who during the life of the king are merely silent counselors,
but upon his death their power becomes manifest, and upon them
devolves the responsibility of selecting a successor and governing the
kingdom until such successor is chosen. The successor must be a prince
of the realm, but not necessarily the eldest son of the late king;
indeed, not necessarily a son of his at all.
The death of the late king occurred about nine o’clock P. M. The prime
minister was immediately summoned to the palace, and convened the
_Senabodee_, and before midnight the succession was determined and
everything going on smoothly. They chose in this instance the eldest
son of the late king, Somdetch Chowfa Chulalangkorn, a boy about
sixteen years old.
His coronation took place on Wednesday, November 11, 1868, being the
day decided upon by the Brahman astrologers as the one most
propitious. At this coronation there was a slight innovation upon the
usual Siamese custom. No European had ever before witnessed the
coronation ceremonies of any king of Siam. The late king, after his
coronation, wrote a private note to some of his European friends
stating that he would have been glad to have had them present, but
“state reasons forbade the presence of foreigners.”
[Illustration: SOMDETCH CHOWFA CHULALANGKORN.]
The number of Europeans present at the coronation proper of the
present king were few, consisting of the consuls of the different
treaty powers with their suites, the officers of H. B. M.’s gunboat
Avon and a few others. The writer held at the time the seals of the
United States consulate, and was the only representative of our
government in the kingdom, and consequently received an invitation,
which might not have been accorded to him as a mere missionary. The
company of Siamese present was equally small, consisting only of the
chief princes and nobles of the kingdom. The hour named was six A. M.,
but owing to some delay it was nearly eight when we passed into a
small triangular court facing one of the doors of the inner
audience-hall. In front of the door of the hall stood an elevated
platform richly gilded, and upon that platform was placed a very large
golden basin. Within that basin was a golden tripod or three-legged
stool. Over the platform was a quadrangular canopy, and over the
canopy was the nine-storied umbrella, tapering in the form of a
pagoda. Over the centre of the canopy was a vessel containing
consecrated water, said to have been prayed over nine times and poured
through nine different circular vessels before reaching the top of the
canopy. This water is collected from the chief rivers of Siam and at a
point above tidal influence, and is constantly kept on hand in
reservoirs near the temples in the capital. In the vessel was placed a
tube or siphon, representing the pericarp of the lotus-flower after
the petals have fallen off.
[Illustration: HALL OF AUDIENCE, PALACE OF BANGKOK.]
At a flourish of crooked trumpets resembling rams’ horns the king
elect descended from the steps of the hall, arrayed in a simple
waist-cloth of white muslin, with a piece of the same material thrown
over his shoulders, and took his seat upon the tripod in the basin. A
Brahman priest approached him and offered him some water in a golden
lotus-shaped cup, into which he dipped his hand and rubbed it over his
head. This was the signal for the pulling of a rope and letting loose
the sacred water above in the form of a shower-bath upon his person.
This shower-bath represents the _Tewadas_, or Buddhist angels, sending
blessings upon His Majesty. A Buddhist priest then approached and
poured a goblet of water over his person. Next came the Brahman
priests and did the same. Next came the chief princes, uncles of the
king; next two aged princesses, his aunts. The vessels used by these
princes and princesses were conch-shells tipped with gold. Then came
the chief nobles, each with a vessel of different material, such as
gold, silver, pinchbeck, earthenware; then, last of all, the prime
minister with a vessel of iron. This finished the royal bath.
He then descended from the stool in a shivering state, and was
divested of his wet clothes and arrayed in regal robes of golden cloth
studded with diamonds. In the south end of the audience-hall was an
octagonal throne, having sides corresponding to the eight points of
the compass. He first seated himself on the side facing north, passing
around toward the east. In front of each side of the throne was
crouched a Buddhist and a Brahman priest, who presented him with a
bowl of water, of which he drank and rubbed some on his face. At each
side they repeated to him a prayer, to which he responded. I was too
far off to hear all, but the following is said to be a translation of
it:
_Priest._ “Be thou learned in the laws of nature and of the universe.”
_King._ “Inspire me, O Thou who wert a law unto thyself!”
_Priest._ “Be thou endowed with all wisdom and all acts of industry.”
_King._ “Inspire me with all knowledge, O Thou the enlightened!”
_Priest._ “Let mercy and truth be thy right and left arms of life.”
_King._ “Inspire me, O Thou who hast proved all truth and mercy!”
_Priest._ “Let the sun, moon and stars bless thee.”
_King._ “All praise to Thee, through whom all forms are conquered!”
_Priest._ “Let the earth, air and water bless thee.”
_King._ “Through the merit of thee, O Thou conqueror of death!”
He was then conducted to the north end of the hall, and was seated
upon another throne. The insignia of royalty were then presented to
him. They were handed to him by his uncle, Prince Chowfa Malaa Mala.
First came the sword, then the sceptre, then two massive gold chains
in a casket, which he suspended around his shoulders. Then came the
crown, which he put on his own head, and at that instant the royal
salute proclaimed him king under the title of Prabat Somdetch Pra
Paramendr Maha Chulalang Korn Kate Klou Yu Hua. Then came the golden
slippers, the fan, the umbrella, two large massive rings set with huge
diamonds, which he placed on each of his forefingers. Then one of each
of the Siamese weapons of war were handed to him, which he received
and handed back.
The Brahmans then wound up with a short address, to which he briefly
responded. He then distributed a few gold and silver flowers among his
friends, and the Europeans then withdrew to breakfast, which had been
prepared for them.
[Illustration: BRAHMAN AT WORSHIP.]
It may be asked why the Brahmans officiate so much when Siam is
emphatically a Buddhist country. I have asked several well-informed
noblemen for the reason, but have as yet been unable to ascertain. No
one appears able to give any true reason. There are a number of
Brahmans in the country, but their existence is scarcely ever noticed
except on some such occasion as the above.
At eleven o’clock A. M. the new king appeared for the first time
before his whole court. The outer audience-hall was richly decorated
and spread with rich Brussels carpet. When the foreign consuls entered
in a body the whole Siamese court was prostrate on their knees and
elbows on the carpet. Very soon the king entered, arrayed in regal
robes and wearing his crown, and seated himself upon the throne. The
whole court simultaneously placed the palms of their hands together
and then raised them up to the forehead, bowing their heads three
times to the floor. The chief ministers of state then formally
delivered over their several departments to the new monarch, to whom
he briefly responded. Senhor Vianna, consul-general for Portugal――his
being the oldest consulate――then, on behalf of the consuls present,
read a short congratulatory address, which called forth another brief
response, and the audience retired.
The king has generally one whom he constitutes his queen-consort. A
young princess of the highest rank that can be found in the kingdom is
selected. She is not, however, certain of promotion until after she
has lived with the king for a time and has succeeded in gaining a
large place in the royal affections. When this is sufficiently
accomplished the king appoints a day for her exaltation. Three days
are usually devoted to the purpose; the chief officers of the palace
and the chief princes and nobles of the kingdom are present.
The principal ceremonies devolve upon the priests, of whom there are
quite a number present, both Buddhist and Brahman. The princess is
copiously bathed in pure water, in which the leaves of a certain kind
of tree supposed to possess purifying and healthful influences are
put. Most of the time is spent in feasting, but on the third day she
is placed on a small throne under a white canopy, where she is bathed
with holy water, the priests reciting prayers the while. She is then
conducted to a place where her wet clothes are laid aside, and she is
arrayed in queenly costume, jewels and diamonds, and then displays
herself to those in attendance.
Instances have occurred where the king had two queen-consorts. In such
cases the one is called “the queen of the right hand” and the other
“the queen of the left hand.” It has only happened about twice in
Siamese history that the king has taken a foreign princess for his
queen-consort.
THE SIAMESE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.
On the 21st of March, 1882, all the Siamese officials in the province
met upon the top of the mountain nearest to the town of Petchaburee
and drank the water of allegiance, pledging their loyalty to their
sovereign. They met in the audience-hall belonging to the king’s
country palace, which crowns the summit of this picturesque eminence.
Upon the throne erected for the king an image of Lord Buddha was
temporarily placed. Before the idol were burned incense-sticks and
sacred candles made of yellow wax. Below the idol was a large brasen
basin containing the water of allegiance. Across this basin were
placed a sword, gun, spear and other warlike weapons; a cord was tied
to the idol, and, passing around the basin of water, passed through
the hands of a line of yellow-robed priests, whose vain repetitions in
the Pali language were supposed to pass along the string to their
gilded god. Before each priest was placed two large salvers containing
a great variety of tempting-looking eatables, upon which, as soon as
they had finished their prayers, they fell to work in good earnest.
The repast finished, they brushed their teeth with the ends of soft
sticks, lit their cigarettes and puffed away complacently while the
oath was being administered.
The oath of allegiance is a long, horrible affair, which should they
fail to keep, they said, “We beseech the power of the deities to
plague with poisonous boils rapidly fatal and all manner of diseases
the dishonorable, perverse and treacherous with untimely, wretched and
appalling deaths, manifest to the eyes of the world; when we shall
have departed this life from earth cause us to be sent and all to be
born in the great hell, where we shall burn with quenchless fire for
tens and hundreds of thousands of ages and limitless transmigrations;
and when we have expiated our penalty there, and are again born into
any world, we pray we may fail to find the least happiness in worlds
of pleasurable enjoyments; let us not meet the god Buddha, the sacred
teachings, the sacred priests that come to be gracious to animals,
helping them escape misery, reach heaven and attain a succession of
births and deaths; should we meet them, let them grant us no gracious
assistance.” This is not all, but it is enough to show the fearfulness
of the oath, to which the officials listened with apparent
indifference.
The governor of the province, sitting upon his mat, with his vessels
and ornaments of gold spread out before him, seemed the most
indifferent of them all, and spent the greater portion of the time
occupied by reading the oath in picking fleas from his favorite dog
and in cracking them over his thumb. After the reading of the oath the
various weapons were dipped into the water, which exercise was
accompanied by the chanting of the priests and the blowing of
conch-shells, after which all in authority drank of the water and
sprinkled it upon their heads, bowing toward the idol and toward
Bangkok, where the king resides. This ended the ceremony, and all
departed to their homes.
CHAPTER XXI.
_HISTORY OF THE MISSIONS IN SIAM AND LAOS._
The American trading-vessel, commanded by Captain Coffin, which in
1829 brought to this country the famous “Siamese Twins,” brought also
an earnest appeal for aid in evangelizing that then almost unknown
land of their birth.
The appeal came from the zealous German missionary Gutzlaff and his
associate, the Rev. Mr. Tomlin, of the London Missionary Society, who
six months before had made their way to Siam, where they found not
only an open door, but a large and most inviting field, for missionary
labor. Their own societies not encouraging their permanent occupation
of this advanced post in heathendom, both these brethren urged the
American churches to enter in and possess the land for Christ. In
response to the appeal of Gutzlaff, which was specially addressed to
them, the American Board of Foreign Missions instructed the Rev. David
Abeel, then in China, to visit Siam with a view to its occupancy if he
deemed it advisable.
Dr. Abeel reached Singapore just as Mr. Tomlin was on the eve of
embarking on a second visit to Bangkok, and arrived with him in Siam
on June 30, 1831, a few days after Mr. Gutzlaff, disheartened by the
death of his devoted wife, had sailed away in a native junk for
Tientsin on the first of his memorable voyages of missionary
exploration up the coast of China. He had been in Siam nearly three
years in all, and had baptized one Chinese convert, whose name was
Boontai.
The new-comers found the people eager for the books and medicines they
had brought, and they labored faithfully for the good of the many
Siamese and Chinese of high and low degree who came to visit them. In
six months, however, Mr. Tomlin was called away, and Dr. Abeel also
was obliged to leave Siam on a trip to Singapore to recruit his
impaired health. Returning to Siam, he labored on till November 5,
1832, when continued ill-health drove him finally from the field.
Just two months before this the Rev. John Taylor Jones, who had been
appointed a missionary to Siam by his American Baptist missionary
associates in Burmah, to whom also Messrs. Gutzlaff and Tomlin had
written, left Maulmain, where he had been stationed, for Singapore, on
his way with his family to his new field. Delayed at that port, he did
not arrive in Siam till March 25, 1833. Mr. Jones had been designated
specially to the Siamese, but took supervision at once of the little
company of Chinese worshipers Dr. Abeel and others had gathered, and
in December baptized three of them. His Board at home approved the
step Mr. Jones had taken, and determined to sustain the new mission,
which thus proved to be the first permanently established in Siam.
The next to arrive in the field were two missionaries of the American
Board, Messrs. Johnson and Robinson, who, with their wives, had
embarked at Boston June 11, 1833, but, detained nine weary months in
Singapore for a vessel to Siam, did not reach Bangkok till July 25,
1834, having been more than a year on their way. Mr. Johnson entered
at once upon active labors for the Chinese, and Mr. Robinson for the
Siamese, part of the population.
During the summer of 1834 the Rev. William Dean and his wife, who had
been appointed by the American Baptist Board missionaries to the
Chinese of Siam――their first missionaries, in fact, to any speaking
the Chinese language――and Daniel B. Bradley, M. D., and wife, whom the
American Board sent out to reinforce their mission to the Siamese,
sailed from Boston for Singapore. While delayed at Singapore, Mrs.
Dean was removed by death, and it was not till July 18, twelve months
after leaving Boston, that Drs. Dean and Bradley, with Mrs. Bradley,
reached their destined field.
Dr. Bradley soon opened a medical dispensary, and entered with zeal,
faith and energy, which neither illness nor tropical heat nor any
discouragement could abate, upon a course of medical and preaching,
printing, writing and translating labors for the good of the Siamese,
which ceased not till he resigned his breath in June, 1873――thirty-eight
years after. Dr. Dean devoted himself to the instruction of the
Chinese that thronged the city――a labor of Christian love which this
venerable first apostle of the Baptist Church to the Chinese is still
(1884) prosecuting in that same heathen city. In December, 1835, he
baptized three new converts.
Both missions were now in efficient working order, with each its
Chinese department as well as its Siamese, the Baptist mission
laboring among the Chinese that spoke the Tachew dialect, who were
emigrants from the Swatow district of the Canton province, while the
A. B. C. F. M.’s mission looked after those that spoke the Hokien or
Amoy dialect――different from that used by the Swatow people, and
hardly intelligible to them.
The medical services of the missionaries and their medicines, and the
Christian tracts and books they distributed without money and without
price, were eagerly sought, and there was free access to the people in
their streets, homes, and temples even, for making known the new
religion; but none seemed savingly impressed――none of the _Siamese_.
Indeed, while the protracted reign of the bigoted and imperious king
who was on the throne when missions were established in Siam
continued, it would seem no native could be brought even to entertain
the question of forsaking the religion of the land, such was the dread
of the king’s wrath and of the stripes, imprisonment, torture, death
itself perhaps, that might be the fate of a convert.
The Chinese settlers in Siam were allowed more freedom of conscience;
the displeasure of their kinsmen was all they would have to fear from
change of religion. So Dr. Dean had the happiness of seeing the number
of Chinese believers increase, till in 1837 a church was
organized――the first church of Protestant Chinese Christians that was
ever gathered in the East. To this, by 1848, sixty names had been
added at different times. Mr. Johnson too, of the American Board’s
mission, had the pleasure of baptizing his Chinese teacher in 1838,
and in 1844 another of his teachers, Quaking, a Chinese of very
respectable literary attainments.
Meanwhile, all labored on in hope. Reinforcements were sent from time
to time to each mission. To the Baptist came, July, 1836, the Rev. Mr.
Davenport and wife and Mr. and Mrs. Reid――Mr. Reid, alas! to die of
dysentery in a little over a year. With these brethren came a
printing-press. A printing-press was sent out to the American mission
also the next year, so that both were now fully equipped for a most
important branch of mission-work among this nation of readers. Before
the year (1836) came to a close the first tract was printed,
containing an account of the giving of the Law, a summary of the Ten
Commandments, a short prayer and a few hymns. This is supposed to be
the first printing ever executed in Siam. They had also secured more
comfortable quarters on the west bank of the river, in the heart of
the city, in houses built for them and leased to them by the Praklang,
the minister of foreign affairs.
In March, 1838, Mrs. Eliza G. Jones died of cholera. She was a lady of
many gifts and graces. A little tract from her pen, _The Burmese
Village_, is one of the most vivid and touching pictures of heathenism
in all missionary literature. In April the Rev. Mr. Robbins and Dr.
Tracy arrived to join the A. B. C. F. M. mission, but both left the
following year.
This year (1838) was one memorable in the history of the Presbyterian
mission, as in it occurred the visit of the Rev. R. W. Dee, who had
been directed by the Presbyterian Board to proceed to Bangkok and
report upon its eligibility as a station for the missionary operations
they were about entering upon for the Chinese, so difficult of access
in their own country. During his month’s stay in Siam, Mr. Dee found
so large a field unoccupied, where laborers from our branch of the
Church would be gladly welcomed, that he urged upon the Board the
establishment of a mission in that land, not only to the Chinese
there, but to the Siamese also. November 5, 1838, Dr. Bradley was
ordained a minister of the gospel by his congregational associates.
In 1839 the Siamese government availed itself of one of the mission
printing-presses to multiply copies of a royal proclamation against
opium, and had an edition of nine thousand copies struck off. In
August of this year the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Slaftee of the Baptist
mission arrived.
In 1840 vaccination was successfully introduced into Siam by Dr.
Bradley,――a great boon to the people, among whom small-pox often
committed fearful ravages.
The American Board’s mission was strongly reinforced in its Siamese
departments early in the year by the arrival of the Rev. Messrs. Jesse
Caswell, Asa Hemenway, N. S. Benham and their wives, with Miss
Pierce――Mr. Benham to lose his life in one short month by drowning,
his boat capsizing in the Menam when returning from an evening
prayer-meeting. The Rev. Messrs. French and Peet, with their wives,
also arrived in May. To the Chinese department of the Baptist mission
came the Rev. Josiah Goddard and his wife in October.
It was in August of this same year that the Rev. William Buell and
wife, the first missionaries of the Presbyterian Board to the Siamese,
arrived in Bangkok. There were then in Siam no less than twenty-four
adult male and female missionaries.
But the next year Mr. Slaftee died of dysentery and Mrs. Johnson of
brain fever, and the widowed Mrs. Benham returned to the United
States. In 1842, Mr. French died of consumption, and the following
year his widow left Siam for the United States.
In 1842, by the treaty made at the close of the war between England
and China, the island of Hong Kong was ceded to the English and five
important seaports thrown open to foreign residence and trade. Dr.
Dean, under instruction from his Board, who hastened to enter the now
unbarred gates of access to the Chinese empire, removed early in the
year to Hong Kong, leaving the Chinese church in Bangkok in charge of
Mr. Goddard.
In 1843, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Chandler arrived from Burmah, where, as a
type-founder and lay missionary, he had been employed for three years.
Being a practical machinist, he did much to introduce a knowledge of
the useful arts among some of the leading men of the kingdom. Prince
Chow Fah Noi, who subsequently, in 1851, was made the second king,
became a pupil of his, and constructed a well-appointed machine-shop
under his supervision, as did also an intelligent young Siamese
nobleman of progressive ideas who afterward became master of the mint.
In 1844 the first steamer ever seen in Siam made its appearance, and
greatly astonished the natives. On leaving, it took as passengers to
Singapore the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Buell, the only missionaries of the
Presbyterian Board, who were now, after only three and a half years’
residence, most reluctantly obliged to abandon their work, Mrs. Buell
having been stricken with paralysis. With their departure (February
24th) the Presbyterian mission in Siam died out, or rather was
suspended, and more than three years elapsed before it was resumed. It
had from the first been the intention of the Board to establish and
maintain a _Chinese_ department, but those sent out for this purpose,
on reaching Singapore and learning there how fully open China proper
was to the gospel, felt themselves called to proceed to that land,
whose claims seemed so much greater. Miss Pierce of the American
Board, who had come out as a missionary teacher, but failed to gather
a school, died of consumption in September of this year.
The year 1845 witnessed quite a reduction in the number of the
American missionaries in Siam. The Rev. Mr. Davenport and wife (now
Mrs. Fanny Feudge) of the Baptist mission left for the United States,
to return no more, and Dr. Jones, also, on a visit. The Rev. Charles
Robinson and family of the A. B. C. F. M. also left Siam (Mr. R. to
die at St. Helena on his passage home), while Mrs. Dr. Bradley died at
Bangkok in the triumphs of faith after years of efficient and loving
service for her Saviour――a most valuable helper in her husband’s work.
It was in this year that Prince Chow Fah Mongkut (Chow Fa Yai), who
afterward became king, then head-priest of a royal monastery within
the city-walls, invited one of the American missionaries, the Rev.
Jesse Caswell, to become his private tutor. So anxious was this
priest-prince for instruction that he offered an inducement which he
knew would weigh heavily with a missionary――the use of a room in a
building on the temple-grounds, where, after his hour for teaching was
over, he could preach and distribute Christian tracts. The arrangement
was made and carried out for over a year and a half. So much of the
future of Siam in providence was to hinge on those hours of intimate
intercourse between the faithful teacher and his illustrious and most
diligent pupil that all the particulars are of interest. The prince
was then about forty years of age――his teacher a graduate of Lane
Theological Seminary, a member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, and in
the service of the A. B. C. F. M.
In 1846 the American Board, rightly deeming China proper a wider and
more promising field for the labors of their Chinese-speaking
missionaries, decided to give up their Chinese department in Siam,
instructing Messrs. Johnson and Peet to proceed to China and establish
a new mission at Fuh-Chow-fuh. With the close of the year came the
Rev. Mr. Jenks to assist Mr. Goddard of the Baptist mission, only to
leave, however, before the close of the next year, in consequence of
the failure of Mrs. Jenks’s health.
In February, 1847, Dr. Bradley, with his three motherless children,
left on a visit to the United States, his ship passing in the Gulf of
Siam the vessel in which newly-appointed missionaries of the
Presbyterian Board, Rev. Stephen Mattoon and wife and Samuel R. House,
M. D., were on their way to recommence the mission-work of that Board
in Siam, which had been so long discontinued.
These brethren had sailed from New York for China in the ship Grafton
in July, 1846, arriving at Macao, after a five months’ voyage, on
Christmas Day. No opportunity thence direct to Siam presenting, they
were constrained to proceed _viâ_ Singapore. There they were most
hospitably entertained by the Rev. B. P. Keasberry, a missionary to
the Malays, then of the London Missionary Society. Finding in the
harbor a native-built trading-ship belonging to the king of Siam,
commanded by a European, they secured a passage in it to Bangkok,
which, after a tedious voyage of twenty-four days, they reached March
22, 1847, eight months after they left New York. The journey from New
York to Bangkok can now be made by transcontinental railways and
Pacific mail-steamers, or by English steamers and the Suez Canal,
according as one goes west or east, in six or seven weeks only.
Upon arriving the new-comers were most cordially received by the
brethren of the A. B. C. F. M. and the American Baptist mission, and
welcomed to the homes of Messrs. Caswell and Hemenway, the only
remaining members of the A. B. C. F. M., till the vacant houses on
their premises could be prepared for their reception. They were soon
visited by many of the nobles and princes, and took an early
opportunity to pay their respects to the Praklang, Prince T. Mourfanoi
(Chow Fah Noi), and his elder brother, T. Y. Chow Fah Mongkut, the
prince-priest, at his residence in a beautiful monastery in the city.
By both these princes they were most kindly received――by the
last-named with marked regard, which they ever retained.
The tidings spreading that a new foreign physician had come to Siam,
patients of every description and of all classes crowded for relief,
till Dr. House was compelled to reopen the dispensary, which had long
been sustained by Dr. Bradley in a floating-house moored in front of
the mission premises. During the first eighteen months he had
prescribed for three thousand one hundred and seventeen patients. Mr.
Mattoon applied himself successfully to the study of the language, and
soon entered upon the work of tract-distribution, visiting for this
purpose the wats or Buddhist monasteries of the city, none being more
ready to receive Christian books than the priests――or monks,
rather――themselves.
In the ensuing cool season many tours were made with the brethren of
other missions. Petchaburee, Ayuthia, Prabat and Petrui were visited,
and everywhere they found a ready reception for the books and tracts
they carried with them.
In 1848 the Rev. John Taylor Jones, D. D., returned with Mrs. S. S.
Jones and Miss Harriet Morse, a missionary teacher, but Mr. Goddard of
the same mission was obliged to remove to a more invigorating climate,
and left for Ningpo, China. In September of this year the mission
cause sustained an irreparable loss in the death of Jesse Caswell. He
was a man of most earnest purpose and rare fitness for the missionary
work. His qualifications as a teacher were appreciated by the Prince
Chow Fah Mongkut, who chose him as his instructor in the English
language and science, and derived from him, chiefly during the
eighteen months’ continuous instruction he received, those enlarged
and liberal ideas in government and religion which, when he succeeded
to the throne, led him to open Siam to commerce and improvement. No
wonder that after he became king he erected a handsome tomb over his
esteemed teacher’s remains and sent to his widow in the United States
a gift of one thousand dollars, and subsequently five hundred dollars
more, as tokens of regard for his memory. In February, 1849, Mrs.
Caswell and family returned to America.
Mr. Caswell’s death and Mr. Hemenway’s illness threw now upon Mr.
Mattoon, though he had been but eighteen months in the field, the
Sabbath preaching-service at the station and a tri-weekly service at a
hired room used as a chapel in the bazaar. There were, too, many
applicants for books daily at the houses of the missionaries, and they
had to be instructed and supplied.
In 1849 the Presbyterian missionaries were made glad by the arrival in
April of the Rev. Stephen Bush and wife, as were the Baptists by the
Rev. Samuel J. Smith’s arrival in June. When a lad Mr. Smith had been
taken into the family of Dr. Jones, came on with him to Siam, had been
sent by him thence to the United States to be educated, and now came
out to assist that veteran missionary in his work.
The newly-arrived missionaries were busy in the acquisition of the
language when suddenly the pestilence like a thunderbolt burst upon
the inhabitants of Bangkok, sweeping to destruction in less than one
month full thirty-five thousand, or about one-tenth, of its
population. For days together, when this epidemic of Asiatic cholera
was at its height, there were two thousand deaths in the twenty-four
hours in Bangkok alone. The mission families were graciously permitted
to abide in peace and safety. As may be imagined, the whole time of
the missionary-physician was engrossed by attendance on the sick and
the dying in princes’ palaces and in bamboo huts, and, through the
blessing of Providence on remedies to which he was directed, many
lives were saved and many lifelong friends secured to himself and the
religion he professed. Of all those thousands that perished, alas! but
one died in hope――an old man from a far-distant up-country home, who
from the reading of Christian tracts alone, without ever seeing the
living teacher, had joyfully received the truth, and, finding his way
to Bangkok and to the Baptist mission to be instructed more perfectly,
got there just in time (so it was strangely ordered) to become one of
the earliest victims of the epidemic. He died without fear, trusting
in the Saviour he had found.
August 29, 1849, witnessed the organization of the first Presbyterian
church in Siam. Earnest prayer went up that day that the little vine
there planted might flourish and increase, and at last overshadow the
land. To this church, made up of the mission families, a worthy native
brother was added by certificate from the church in connection with
mission of the A. B. C. F. M.――Quakieng, who, it will be remembered,
had been baptized by Mr. Johnson in 1844.
With the last week of the year 1849 the Rev. Asa Hemenway, the sole
remaining missionary of the A. B. C. F. M., after just ten years of
faithful service on mission-ground, embarked with his family for the
United States, and the operations of that Board in Siam closed. For
fifteen years its missionaries had cultivated this interesting and
inviting, but as to visible results most barren, field. From none of
the native races of the land had they gathered one reliable convert.
Their missionaries had labored, and labored well, but others were to
enter into their labor. The “set time” for Siam’s visitation had not
yet come. It would seem that “he that letteth must let, till he be
taken out of the way” of this man-fearing people before gospel truth
could have “free course, run and be glorified.” The books that they
prepared, translated and distributed, the favor won by their
gratuitous healing of the sick, and the introduction, first, of
inoculation and afterward of vaccination for the small-pox, the
training given in habits of industry and order and in knowledge of the
Christian Scriptures to those employed by them in their printing-office
and in their families, were not lost, nor the high opinion the natives
learned to entertain of the truthfulness, benevolence and goodness of
American Christian men derived from them and their worthy Baptist
associates. And we must not forget how largely the career of progress
on which Siam has since entered is traceable to the influence of one
member of this mission.
In the spring of 1850 the Rev. Dr. Bradley, who had, while in the
United States, transferred his relations to the American Missionary
Association, returned with Mrs. Sarah B. Bradley and his children, and
with him came as associates the Rev. L. B. Lane, M. D., and Prof. J.
Silsby. To the A. M. A. had been made over the dwelling-houses,
chapel, printing-press, etc. of the A. B. C. F. M.; the ground on
which they stood had been only leased.
It was now imperatively necessary that the Presbyterian mission should
have a home of its own, but all attempts to procure one failed. The
knowledge of the unwillingness of the government to give foreigners
any foothold upon the soil deterred the owners of suitable locations
from selling to the missionaries. And when at last one, braver than
the rest, was found willing to part with land enough for a station in
the upper part of the city, and permission to purchase obtained from
the proper official, and the money had been paid over, and one of the
missionaries with his family had removed in a floating house to the
spot to commence building, a peremptory order from one of the highest
grandees revoked the permission given, and compelled the return of the
mission family and the payment back of the purchase-money by the
seller. No other reason was given than that “the residence of
foreigners there was contrary to the custom of the country.” Nor could
any eligible site be rented even.
The king, who had always been a zealous and bigoted Buddhist, had now
become more despotic and selfish and averse to foreign intercourse
than ever, monopolized himself what little trade there was, and
settled down into a narrow policy that would exclude all nations but
China from the products of his dominion. Neither of the friendly
embassies which visited Siam this year――that from America in March or
that from England in August――could obtain an audience even, much less
gain any concessions in matters of trade or residence or protection of
the interests of their people.
The English ambassador, the celebrated Sir James Brooke (“Rajah
Brooke”), mortified and insulted by the reception given him, withdrew,
threatening to return with a fleet and force that should compel
respect. War seemed so imminent that the proposition kindly made to
the mission families to retire with the ships of the embassy, lest
hostile measures entered upon should subject not English residents
only, but all speaking the English tongue, to a fate like that of Dr.
Judson when the war broke out with Burmah, was seriously considered,
though not accepted.
Very dark were the prospects of all the missions now. The native
teachers were arrested and imprisoned, and threatened with the ratan
and with fetters; the Siamese servants left in a panic; none came to
hear preaching or applied for books.
But the darkest hour is just before day. Just then, in the overruling
providence of God, a mortal though lingering illness seized the king,
and for months all things were in suspense till, in April, 1851, his
long reign ended and he “entered into Nipan,” as the Siamese say when
royalty expires.
Upon the throne, as his successor, was now placed, by the concurrent
voice of the grand council of princes and nobles, the Prince Chow Fah
Mongkut, and Siam entered upon a new era in her history; for this
remarkable man by his devotion to study during the twenty-seven years
of his seclusion from public affairs in a monastery, while his
inferior half-brother, who had artfully supplanted him, reigned with
so strong a hand, and by his intimate association with the American
missionaries, and especially by his having been long under the almost
daily tutelage of one of them, had become emancipated from many of the
prejudices of his countrymen, and prepared to set the wheels of
progress in motion.
Bright now were the prospects of the missionaries. Their teachers and
their old servants returned, and, as the sovereign was known to be
personally friendly to the missionaries, they were treated with
respect by all ranks, and had everywhere a civil hearing for the
message they brought. Indeed, they were assured from the throne on the
day of the coronation, when they were invited to the palace, that they
should be unmolested in their work. Lest, however, they should be too
exultant in their new hopes, Providence was pleased to order trials
and bereavements to each of the missions. Mrs. Bush had an attack of
hemorrhage from the lungs, that on the 22d of July, after six short
weeks of illness, resulted in her death. No, it was _not death_, but
_a translation_. To those who witnessed her triumphant departure it
seemed as if her spirit, when it reached the threshold of the gate of
the heavenly city, turned to tell them what she saw. “Beautiful!” she
said――“beautiful! Heaven is one great beauty.”