In 1864 I found that my labors had greatly increased; I had often to
work till ten o'clock at night to accomplish the endless translations
required of me. I also began to perceive how continually and closely I
was watched, but how and by whom it seemed impossible to discover. Among
the inducements to me to accept the position of teacher to the royal
family was his Majesty's assurance, that, if I gave satisfaction, he
would increase my salary after a year's trial. Nearly three years had
passed when I first ventured to remind the king of this promise. To my
astonishment he bluntly informed me that I had not given satisfaction,
that I was "difficult" and unmanageable, "more careful about what was
right and what was wrong than for the obedience and submission." And as
to salary, he continued: "Why you should be poor? You come into my
presence every day with some petition, some case of hardship or
injustice, and you demand 'your Majesty shall most kindly investigate,
and cause redress to be made'; and I have granted to you because you are
important to me for translations, and so forth. And now you declare you
must have increase of salary! Must you have everything in this world?
Why you do not make _them_ pay you? If I grant you all your petition for
the poor, you ought to be rich, or you have no wisdom."
At a loss what answer to make to this very unsympathetic view of my
conduct, I quietly returned to my duties, which, grew daily in variety
and responsibility. What with translating, correcting, copying,
dictating, reading, I had hardly a moment I could call my own; and if at
any time I rebelled, I brought down swift vengeance on the head of the
helpless native secretary.
But it was my consolation to know that I could befriend the women and
children of the palace, who, when they saw that I was not afraid to
oppose the king in his more outrageous caprices of tyranny, imagined me
endued with supernatural powers, and secretly came to me with their
grievances, in full assurance that sooner or later I would see them
redressed. And so, with no intention on my part, and almost without my
own consent, I suffered myself to be set up between the oppressor and
the oppressed. From that time I had no peace. Day after day I was called
upon to resist the wanton cruelty of judges and magistrates, till at
last I found myself at feud with the whole "San Luang." In cases of
torture, imprisonment, extortion, I tried again and again to excuse
myself from interfering, but still the mothers or sisters prevailed, and
I had no choice left but to try to help them. Sometimes I sent Boy with
my clients, sometimes I went myself; and in no single instance was
justice granted from a sense of right, but always through fear of my
supposed influence with the king. My Siamese and European friends said I
was amassing a fortune. It seemed not worth my while to contradict them,
though the inference was painful to me, for in truth my championship was
not purely disinterested; I suffered from continual contact with the
sufferings of others, and came to the rescue in self-defence and in pity
for myself not less than for them.
A Chinaman had been cruelly murdered and robbed by a favorite slave in
the household of the prime minister's brother, leaving the brother,
wife, and children of the victim in helpless poverty and terror. The
murderer had screened himself and his accomplices by sharing the plunder
with his master. The widow cried for redress in vain. The ears of
magistrates were stopped against her, and she was too poor to pay her
way; but still she went from one court to another, until her importunity
irritated the judges, who, to intimidate her, seized her eldest son, on
some monstrous pretext, and cast him into prison. This double cruelty
completed the despair of the unhappy mother. She came to me fairly
frenzied, and "commanded" me to go at once into the presence of the king
and demand her stolen child; and then, in a sudden paroxysm of grief,
she embraced my knees, wailing, and praying to me to help her. It was
not in human nature to reject that maternal claim. With no little
trouble I procured the liberation of her son; but to keep him out of
harm's way I had to take him into my own home and change his name. I
called him Timothy, which by a Chinese abbreviation became Ti.
When I went with this woman and the brother of the murdered man to the
palace of the premier, we found that distinguished personage half naked
and playing chess. Seeing me enter, he ordered one of his slaves to
bring him a jacket, into which he thrust his arms, and went on with the
game; and not until that was finished did he attend to me. When I
explained my errand he seemed vexed, but sent for his brother, had a
long talk with him, and concluded by warning my unhappy _protégés_ that
if he heard any more complaints from them they should be flogged. Then
turning to me with a grim smile, he said: "Chinee too much bother. Good
by, sir!"
This surprised me exceedingly, for I had often known the premier to
award justice in spite of the king. That same evening, as I sat alone in
my drawing-room, making notes, as was my custom, I heard a slight
noise, as of some one in the room. Looking round, I saw, to my
amazement, one of the inferior judges of the prime minister's court
crouching by the piano. I asked how he dared to enter my house
unannounced. "Mam," said he, "your servants admitted me; they know from
whom I come, and would not venture to refuse me. And now it is for you
to know that I am here from his Excellency Chow Phya Kralahome, to
request you to send in your resignation at the end of this month."
"By what authority does he send me this message?" I asked.
"I know not; but it were best that you obey."
"Tell him," I replied, unable to control my anger at the cowardly trick
to intimidate me, "I shall leave Siam when I please, and that no man
shall set the time for me."
The man departed, cringing and crouching, and excusing himself. This was
the same wretch at whose instigation poor Moonshee had been so
shamefully beaten.
I did not close my eyes that night. Again and again prudence advised me
to seek safety in flight, but the argument ended in my turning my back
on the timid monitor, and resolving to stay.
About three weeks after this occurrence, his Majesty was going on an
excursion "up country," and as he wished me to accompany my pupils, the
prime minister was required to prepare a cabin for me and my boy on his
steamer, the Volant. Before we left the palace one of my anxious friends
made me promise her that I would partake of no food nor taste a drop of
wine on board the steamer,--an injunction in the sequel easy to fulfil,
as our wants were amply provided for at the Grand Palace, where we spent
the whole day. But I cite this incident to show the state of mind which
led me to prolong my stay, hateful as it had become.
After this, affairs in the royal household went smoothly enough for some
time; but still my tasks increased, and my health began to fail. When I
informed his Majesty that I needed at least a month of rest, and that I
thought of making a trip to Singapore, he was so unwilling that I should
rate highly the services I rendered him, that he was careful to assure
me I had not "favored" him in any way, nor given him satisfaction; and
that if I must be idle for a month, he certainly should not pay me for
the time; and he kept his word. Nevertheless, while I was at Singapore
he wrote to me most kindly, assuring me that his wives and children were
anxious for my return.
After the sad death of the dear little princess, Chow Fâ-ying, the king
had become more cordial; but the labor he imposed upon me was in
proportion to the confidence he reposed in me. At times he required of
me services, in my capacity of secretary, not to be thought of by a
European sovereign; and when I declined to perform them, he would curse
me, close the gates of the palace against me, and even subject me to the
insults and threats of the parasites and slaves who crawled about his
feet. On two occasions--first for refusing to write a false letter to
Sir John Bowring, now Plenipotentiary for the Court of Siam in England;
and again for declining to address the Earl of Clarendon in relation to
a certain British officer then in Siam--he threatened to have me tried
at the British Consulate, and was so violent that I was in real fear for
my life. For three days I waited, with doors and windows barred, for I
knew not what explosion.
After the death of the Second King, his Majesty behaved very
disgracefully. It was well known that the ladies of the prince's harem
were of the most beautiful of the women of Laos, Pegu, and Birmah; above
all, the Princess of Chiengmai was famed for her manifold graces of
person and character. Etiquette forbade the royal brothers to pry into
the constitution of each other's _sérail_, but by means most unworthy of
his station, and regardless of the privilege of his brother, Maha
Mongkut had learned of the acquisition to the subordinate king's
establishment of this celebrated and coveted beauty; and although she
was now his legitimate sister-in-law, privately married to the prince,
he was not restrained by any scruple of morality or delicacy from
manifesting his jealousy and pique. [Footnote: See portrait, Chap. XXV.]
Moreover, this disgraceful feeling was fostered by other considerations
than those of mere sensuality or ostentation. Her father, the tributary
ruler of Chiengmai, had on several occasions confronted his aggressive
authority with a haughty and intrepid spirit; and once, when Maha
Mongkut required that he should send his eldest son to Bangkok as a
hostage for the father's loyalty, and good conduct, the unterrified
chief replied that he would be his own hostage. On the summons being
repeated in imperative terms, the young prince fled from his father's
court and took refuge with the Second King in his stronghold of Ban
Sitha, where he was most courteously received and entertained until he
found it expedient to seek some securer or less compromising place of
refuge.
The friendship thus founded between two proud and daring princes soon
became strong and enduring, and resulted in the marriage of the Princess
Sunartha Vismita (very willingly on her part) to the Second King, about
a year before his death.
The son of the King of Chiengmai never made his appearance at the court
of Siam; but the stout old chief, attended by trusty followers, boldly
brought his own "hostage" thither; and Maha Mongkut, though secretly
chafing, accepted the situation with a show of graciousness, and
overlooked the absence of the younger vassal.
With the remembrance of these floutings still galling him, the Supreme
King frequently repaired to the Second King's palace on the pretext of
arranging certain "family affairs" intrusted to him by his late brother,
but in reality to acquaint himself with the charms of several female
members of the prince's household; and, scandalous as it should have
seemed even to Siamese notions of the divine right of kings, the most
attractive and accomplished of those women were quietly transferred to
his own harem. For some time I heard nothing more of the Princess of
Chiengmai; but it was curious, even amusing, to observe the serene
contempt with which the "interlopers" were received by the rival
incumbents of the royal gynecium,--especially the Laotian women, who are
of a finer type and much handsomer than their Siamese sisters.
Meantime his Majesty took up his abode for a fortnight at the Second
King's palace, thereby provoking dangerous gossip in his own
establishment; so that his "head wife," the Lady Thieng, even made bold
to hint that he might come to the fate of his brother, and die by slow
poison. His harem was agitated and excited throughout,--some of the
women abandoning themselves to unaccustomed and unnatural gayety, while
others sent their confidential slaves to consult the astrologers and
soothsayers of the court; and by the aid of significant glances and
shrugging of shoulders, and interchange of signs and whispers, with
feminine telegraphy and secret service, most of those interested arrived
at the sage conclusion that their lord had fallen under the spells of a
witch or enchantress.
Such was the domestic situation when his Majesty suddenly and without
warning returned to his palace, but in a mood so perplexing as to
surpass all precedent and baffle all tact. I had for some time performed
with surprising success a leading part in a pretty little court play, of
which the well-meant plot had been devised by the Lady Thieng. Whenever
the king should be dangerously enraged, and ready to let loose upon some
tender culprit of the harem the monstrous lash or chain, I--at a secret
cue from the head wife--was to enter upon his Majesty, book in hand, to
consult his infallibility in a pressing predicament of translation into
Sanskrit, Siamese, or English. Absurdly transparent as it was,--perhaps
the happier for its very childishness,--under cover of this naive device
from time to time a hapless girl escaped the fatal burst of his wrath.
Midway in the rising storm of curses and abuse he would turn with
comical abruptness to the attractive interruption with all the zest of a
scholar. I often trembled lest he should see through the thinly covered
trick, but he never did. On his return from the prince's palace,
however, even this innocent stratagem failed us; and on one occasion of
my having recourse to it he peremptorily ordered me away, and forbade my
coming into his presence again unless sent for. Daily, after this, one
or more of the women suffered from his petty tyranny, cruelty, and
spite. On every hand I heard sighs and sobs from young and old; and not
a woman there but believed he was bewitched and beside himself.
I had struggled through many exacting tasks since I came to Siam, but
never any that so taxed my powers of endurance as my duties at this
time, in my double office of governess and private secretary to his
Majesty. His moods were so fickle and unjust, his temper so tyrannical,
that it seemed impossible to please him; from one hour to another I
never knew what to expect. And yet he persevered in his studies,
especially in his English correspondence, which was ever his solace, his
pleasure, and his pride. To an interested observer it might have
afforded rare entertainment to note how fluently, though oddly, he spoke
and wrote in a foreign language, but for his caprices, which at times
were so ridiculous, however, as to be scarcely disagreeable. He would
indite letters, sign them, affix his seal, and despatch them in his own
mail-bags to Europe, America, or elsewhere; and, months afterward,
insist on my writing to the parties addressed, to say that the
instructions they contained were _my_ mistake,--errors of translation,
transcription, anything but his intention. In one or two instances,
finding that the case really admitted of explanation or apology from his
Majesty, I slyly so worded my letter, that, without compromising him, I
yet managed to repair the mischief he had done. But I felt this could
not continue long. Always, on foreign-mail days, I spent from eight to
ten hours in this most delicate and vexatious work. At length the crash
came.
The king had promised to Sir John Bowring the appointment of
Plenipotentiary to the Court of France, to negotiate, on behalf of Siam,
new treaties concerning the Cambodian possessions. With characteristic
irresolution he changed his mind, and decided to send a Siamese Embassy,
headed by his Lordship P'hra Nan Why, now known as his Excellency Chow
Phya Sri Sury-wongse. No sooner had he entertained this fancy than he
sent for me, and coolly directed me to write and explain the matter to
Sir John, if possible attributing his new views and purpose to the
advice of her Britannic Majesty's Consul; or, if I had scruples on that
head, I might say the advice was my own,--or "anything I liked," so that
I justified his conduct.
At this distance of time I cannot clearly recall all the effect upon my
feelings of so outrageous a proposition; but I do remember that I found
myself emphatically declining to do "anything of the kind." Then, warned
by his gathering rage, I added that I would express to Sir John his
Majesty's regrets, but to attribute the blame to those who had had no
part in the matter, that I could never do. At this his fury was
grotesque. His talent for invective was always formidable, and he tried
to overpower me with threats. But a kindred spirit of resistance was
aroused in me. I withdrew from the palace, and patiently abided the
issue, resolved, in any event, to be firm.
His Majesty's anger was without bounds; and in the interval so fraught
with anxiety and apprehension to me, when I knew that a considerable
party in the palace--judges, magistrates, and officers about the person
of the king--regarded me as an eminently proper person to behead or
drown, he condescended to accuse me of abstracting a book that he
chanced just then to miss from his library, and also of honoring and
favoring the British Consul at the expense of his American colleague,
then resident at Bangkok. In support of the latter charge, he alleged
that I had written the American Consul's name at the bottom of a royal
circular, after carefully displaying my own and the British
functionary's at the top of it.
The circular in question, which had given just umbrage to the American
official, was fortunately in the keeping of the Honorable [Footnote:
Here the title is Siamese.] Mr. Bush, and was written by the king's own
hand, as was well known to all whom it concerned. These charges, with
others of a more frivolous nature,--such as disobeying, thwarting,
scolding his Majesty, treating him with disrespect, as by standing while
he was seated, thinking evil of him, slandering him, and calling him
wicked,--the king caused to be reduced to writing and sent to me, with
an intimation that I must forthwith acknowledge my ingratitude and
guilt, and make atonement by prompt compliance with his wishes. The
secretary who brought the document to my house was accompanied by a
number of the female slaves of the palace, who besought me, in the name
of their mistresses, the wives of the "Celestial Supreme," to yield, and
do all that might be required of me.
Seeing this shaft miss its mark, the secretary, being a man of
resources, produced the other string to his bow. He offered to bribe me,
and actually spent two hours in that respectable business; but finally
departed in despair, convinced that the amount was inadequate to the
cupidity of an insatiable European, and mourning for himself that he
must return discomfited to the king.
Next morning, my boy and I presented ourselves as usual at the inner
gate of the palace leading to the school, and were confronted there by a
party of rude fellows and soldiers, who thrust us back with threats, and
even took up stones to throw at us. I dare not think what might have
been our fate, but for the generous rescue of a crowd of the poorest
slaves, who at that hour were waiting for the opening of the gate. These
rallied round us, and guarded us back to our home. It was, indeed, a
time of terror for us. I felt that my life was in great danger; and so
difficult did I find it to prevent the continual intrusion of the
rabble, both men and women, into my house, that I had at length to bar
my doors and windows, and have double locks and fastenings added. I
became nervous and excited as I had never been before.
My first impulse was to write to the British Consul and invoke his
protection; but that looked cowardly. Nevertheless, I did prepare the
letter, ready to be despatched at the first attempt upon our lives or
liberty. I wrote also to Mr. Bush, asking him to find without delay the
obnoxious circular, and bring it to my house. He came that very evening,
the paper in his hand. With infinite difficulty I persuaded the native
secretary, whom I had again and again befriended in like extremities, to
procure for him an audience with the king.
On coming into the presence of his Majesty, Mr. Bush simply handed him
the circular, saying, "Mam tells me you wish to see this." The moment
the caption of the document met his eye, his Majesty's countenance
assumed a blank, bewildered expression peculiar to it, and he seemed to
look to my friend for an explanation; but that gentleman had none to
offer, for I had made none to him.
And to crown all, even as the king was pointing to his brow to signify
that he had forgotten having written it, one of the little princesses
came crouching and crawling into the room with the missing volume in her
hand. It had been found in one of the numerous sleeping-apartments of
the king, beside his pillow, just in time!
Mr. Bush soon returned, bringing me assurances of his Majesty's cordial
reconciliation; but I still doubted his sincerity, and for weeks did not
offer to enter the palace. When, however, on the arrival of the Chow
Phya steamer with the mail, I was formally summoned by the king to
return to my duties, I quietly obeyed, making no allusion to my
"bygones."
As I sat at my familiar table, copying, his Majesty approached, and
addressed me in these words:--
"Mam! you are one great difficulty. I have much pleasure and favor on
you, but you are too obstinate. You are not wise. Wherefore are you so
difficult? You are only a woman. It is very bad you can be so
strong-headed. Will you now have any objection to write to Sir John, and
tell him I am his very good friend?"
"None whatever," I replied, "if it is to be simply a letter of good
wishes on the part of your Majesty."
I wrote the letter, and handed it to him for perusal. He was hardly
satisfied, for with only a significant grunt he returned it to me, and
left the apartment at once,--to vent his spite on some one who had
nothing to do with the matter.
In due time the following very considerate but significant reply
(addressed to his Majesty's "one great difficulty ") was received from
Sir John Bowring:--
CLAREMONT, EXETER, 30 June, 1867.
DEAR MADAM:--Your letter of 12th May demands from me the attention of a
courteous reply. I am quite sure the ancient friendship of the King of
Siam would never allow a slight, or indeed an unkindness, to me; and I
hope to have opportunities of showing his Majesty that I feel a deep
interest in his welfare.
As regards the diplomacy of European courts, it is but natural that
those associated with them should be more at home, and better able to
direct their course, than strangers from a distance, however personally
estimable; and though, in the case in question, the mission of a Siamese
Ambassador to Paris was no doubt well intended, and could never have
been meant to give me annoyance, it was not to be expected he would be
placed in that position of free and confidential intercourse which my
long acquaintance with public life would enable me to occupy. In remote
regions, people with little knowledge of official matters in high
quarters often take upon themselves to give advice in great ignorance of
facts, and speak very unadvisedly on topics on which their opinions are
worthless and their influence valueless.
As regards M. Aubaret's offensive proceedings, I doubt not he has
received a caution [Footnote: Aubaret, French Consul at Bangkok, whose
overbearing conduct has been described elsewhere.] on my representation,
and that he, and others of his nation, would not be very willing that
the Emperor--an old acquaintance of mine--should hear from my lips what
I might have to say. The will of the Emperor is supreme, and I am afraid
the Cambodian question is now referred back to Siam. It might have been
better for me to have discussed it with his Imperial Majesty. However,
the past is past. Personal influence, as you are aware, is not
transferable; but when by the proper powers I am placed in a position to
act, his Majesty may be assured--as I have assured himself--that his
interests will not suffer in my hands.
I am obliged to you for the manner in which you have conveyed to me his
Majesty's gracious expressions.