him so much Glory and happiness and which are no other than the Knowledge and Worship of the true God which is only to be found in the Christian Religion He offers your Majesty then by his Ambassador adjuring you and your whole Kingdom to embrace and follow it That Prince Sir is more admirable still by his Wisdom Judgment and Prudence than by his Conquests and Victories Your Majesty knows his generosity and Royal Friendship you cannot make a better choice than to follow the wise Counsels of so great a King your good friend For my part Sir I never begg'd any thing of the great God for your Majesty but that Grace and I would be ready to lay down a thousand lives that I might obtain it of the Divine Bounty May it please your Majesty to consider that by that action you will Crown all the Great and Illustrious exploits of your Reign you will eternize your Memory and procure to your self immortal Honour and Glory in the next World. Ah Sir I adjure your Majesty not to send back the Embassador of so great a King with discontent he begs that in the name of the King his Master for establishing and rendring your Alliances and Royal Amities inviolable at least if your Majesty hath entertained any good thought or if you find the least inclination to embrace that Party that you would make it known It is the most acceptable news that he can carry to the King his Master Now if your Majesty hath resolved not to condescend to what I have had the honour to represent to you or that you cannot give a favourable answer to the Ambassador I beg of you to excuse me from carrying your Royal answer which cannot but be displeasing to the Great God whom I adore You ought not to think it strange that I speak to you in this manner whosoever is not faithful to his God cannot be so to his Prince and your Majesty ought not to do me the honour to suffer me in your Service if I entertained other Sentiments The King of Siam answers the Lord Constance The King heard the Discourse of the Lord Constance without interrupting him and having a little pondered with himself as one whose mind was taken up with great thoughts he answered him upon the spot in these terms FEAR not that I will force your Conscience But who hath made the King of France my good Friend believe that I entertained any such Sentiments Ah Sir who can doubt replied the Lord Constance but that your Majesty has those great thoughts when they consider the Protection you give to Missionaries the Churches you have caused to be built the Charity you give to the Fathers of China It is upon that Sir that the King of France grounds his perswasion that your Majesty had an inclination towards Christianity But when you told the Ambassador added the King the reasons that make me continue in the Religion of my Ancestors what answer had you from him The Ambassador of France replied the Lord Constance found your Reasons to be very weighty but seeing the propositions he made you in the name of the King his Master was sincere and disinterested and that that great Monarch had no other prospect but your Majesties good he did not think that any of the reasons which I told him ought to hinder him from obeying his Masters Commands especially when he understood that the Ambassador of Persia was arrived in the Kingdom of Siam and that he brought your Majesty the Alcoran to the end you might follow it In that view the Ambassador of France thought himself obliged to offer your Majesty the Christian Religion and to adjure you to embrace it Is it true answered the King that the Ambassador of Persia brings me the Alcoran It is so reported reply'd the Lord Constance To which the King forthwith made answer I wish with all my heart the Ambassador of France were here to see what Reception the Ambassador of Persia should have from me Certainly if I had no Religion at all I would never choose the Mahometan But to answer the Ambassador of France continued the King you shall tell him from me I think my self extreamly obliged to the King of France his Master finding in his Memoirs the marks of his most Christian Majesties Royal Friendship and since the honour that that great Prince hath done me is already made publick all over the East I cannot sufficiently acknowledge his Civility but that I am extreamly vexed that the King of France my good Friend should propose so difficult a thing unto me wherewith I am not in the least acquainted that I refer my self to the Wisdom of the most Christian King that he himself may judge of the importance and difficulty which occur in so nice a matter as the change of a Religion received and followed throughout my whole Kingdom without interruption during the pace of two thousand two hundred twenty nine years After all The Motives that keep the King of Siam firm in his Religion it is strange to me that the King of France my good Friend should so much concern himself in an Affair that relates to God wherein it would seem God does not at all interest himself but leaves it wholly to our Discretion For would not the true God that made Heaven and Earth and all things that are therein and hath given them so different natures and inclinations when he gave to Men like Bodies and Souls if he had pleased have also inspired into them the same sentiments for the Religion they ought to follow and for the Worship that was most acceptable to him and make all Nations live and die in the same Laws That Order amongst Men and that Vnity in Religion depending absolutely on Divine Providence who could as easily introduce it into the World as the diversity of Sects that in all times have been established in it ought not one to think that the true God takes as great pleasure to be honoured by different Worships and Ceremonies as to be Glorified by a prodigious number of Creatures that Praise him every one in their own way Would that Beauty and Variety which we admire in the order of Nature be less admirable in the supernatural Order or less beseeming the Wisdom of God However it be continued his Majesty since we know that God is the absolute Master of the World and that we are perswaded that nothing comes to pass contrary to his will I wholly resign my Person and Dominions into the Arms of the Divine Mercy and Providence and with all my heart obtest his eternal Wisdom to dispose thereof according to his good will and pleasure So that I most expresly command you to tell that Ambassador that I shall omit nothing that lies in my power to cherish the Royal friendship of the most Christian King and instead of complying with the means that he hath proposed to me I shall take such care during the time
that God grants me life that hereafter my Successors and Subjects shall on all occasions testifie as well as I the grateful acknowledgment and high esteem which they ought to have for the Royal Person of his most Christian Majesty and for all his Successors This was the answer of the King of Siam in the same terms that he delivered it to his Minister and as he gave it in writing to my Lord Ambassador The wit of that Prince sufficiently appears by that reasoning who without any knowledge of the Sciences of Europe hath alledged with so much force and perspicuity the most plausible reasons of the Pagan Philosophy against the only true Religion They who know the uprightness of that Prince cannot doubt but that he sincerely said what he thought and what seemed to him most rational The King having said so was silent for some time and then eyeing the Lord Constance The Lord Constance his Reply to the King of Siam's Objections about changing of Religion What do you think added he the Ambassador will answer to these Reasons which I command you to give him in writing I shall not fail Sir answered the Lord Constance to obey your Majesties Orders but I cannot tell what the Ambassador of France will answer to what you have now said to me which seems to be of very great weight and consequence Sure I am he must needs be surprised at the high wisdom and wonderful perspicuity that he 'll perceive thereby in your Majesty However I fancy he may answer that it is true all the Beings which God hath Created Glorifie him every one after its way but that there is this difference betwixt Man and Beasts that when God Created these be gave them different properties and particular instincts to know what is good for them and pursue it without any reflection to discern their evil and avoid it without any ratiocination So the Stag flies from the Lion and Tyger the first time he sees them the Chickens new hatched dread the Kite and flie under the wings of the Hen without any other instruction but what they have received from Nature But in the Creation of Man God hath endowed him with a Mind and Reason to distinguish the Good from the Evil and Divine Providence hath thought it fit that in pursuing and loving the good which is proper for him and avoiding the evil that is contrary to him with reference to his ultimate end which is to know and love God Man should from the Divine Bounty merit an eternal Reward The truth is it is as easie for Man to make use of his hands eyes and feet in the commission of evil as in doing of good if his prudence enlightned by the Wisdom of God directed him not to pursue the ways of real Grandeur which are not to be found but in the Christian Religion wherein Man finds the means of serving God as best pleases his Divine Goodness But all Men follow not so holy and so rational notices It is just so as with your Majesties Officers who are not all equally addicted to your Interests as you but too well know tho all of them call themselves your Subjects and account it an honour to be employed â—in your Service So all Men serve God it is true but in a very different manner Some like Beasts follow their Passions and irregular appetites and live in the Religion they have been brought up in without examining it But others perceiving so great a difference betwixt themselves and Beasts raise themselves above their senses and by means of their Reason which God fails not to enlighten endeavour to know their Creator and the true Worship which he would have men render unto him without any interest but that of pleasing him and to this sincere search of the truth God Almighty hath annexed Mans Salvation Hence it is that negligence in not being instructed and weakness in not following that we judge the best will render us guilty in the sight of God who is the Sovereign Judge of all Flesh This answer from a Man of no Studies who from ten years of age had been applied to Trade and Commerce wrought a great surprize in me when he did me the honour to acquaint me with it I confessed to him without any fear of flattery that a Divine consummated in the Study of Religion would have been hard put to it to have answered better The King was smitten with the discourse of the Lord Constance and if any knowing Man who is acceptable to him hath the happiness to insinuate into his favour and procure his esteem it is not to be dispaired but that he may be brought to know and embrace the Truth and if once he come to know it seeing he is the absolute Master of his People who adore him all the Nations who are under his Dominion will humbly follow his example The King of Siam who Reigns at present is about fifty five years of Age. A Character of the King of Siam He is without contradiction the greatest Prince that ever governed that State. He is somewhat under the middle Stature but streight and well shaped He hath an engaging Air a sweet and obliging carriage especially to Strangers And amongst them particularly to the French. He is active and brisk an enemy of idleness and laziness which seems to be so delightful to the Princes of the East and which they look upon as the greatest Prerogative of their Crown This Prince on the contrary is always either in the Woods a hunting of Elephants or in his Palace minding the Affairs of his Kingdom He is no lover of War because it ruins his People whom he tenderly loves but when his Subjects revolt or that neigbouring Princes offer him the least affront or transgress the bounds of the respect that 's due to him there is no King in the East that takes a more conspicuous revenge nor appears more passionate for glory Some great men of his Kingdom having rebelled and having been openly supported by the Forces of three Kings whose Territories environ the Kingdom of Siam He attacked those Princes so briskly that they were obliged to abandon the Rebels to his wrath He would know every thing and having a pregnant and piercing Wit he easily is Master of what he has a mind to learn. He is magnificent generous and as true a friend as can be imagined These are the great qualities which acquire him the difference of his Neighbours the fear of his Enemies the esteem and respect of his Subjects that 's nothing short of adoration He hath never been given to those vices which are so common to the Princes of the East nay he hath severely punished the most considerable Mandarins and principal Officers of the Crown for being too much addicted to their pleasures So that the most invincible obstacle to the Conversion of Idolatrous Princes is not to be found in him I mean the immoderate love of Women By the
THE VOYAGE of SIAM London Printed 1688. A RELATION OF THE VOYAGE TO SIAM Performed by SIX JESUITS Sent by the FRENCH KING to the INDIES and CHINA in the Year 1685. WITH THEIR ASTROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS and their REMARKS of Natural Philosophy Geography Hydrography and History Published in the Original by the express Orders of His most Christian Majesty And now made English and illustrated with SCULPTURES LONDON Printed by T. B. for J. Robinson and A. Churchil and are to be sold by S. Crouch at the Corner of Popes-Head Alley against the Royal-Exchange 1688. Licensed August the 30th 1687. Ro. L'Estranâ— A VOYAGE TO SIAM The First BOOK The Voyage from Brest to the Cape of Good-Hope SInce the time the King setled a Royal Academy at Paris for improving Arts and Sciences within his Kingdom the Members that compose it have not hit upon any means more proper for accomplishing that Design than the sending out of Learned Men to make Observations in foreign Countries whereby they might correct the Geographical Maps facilitate Navigation and raise Astronomy to its Perfection In that Prospect not a few of the Learnedst Men of that Illustrious Society were by his Majesties Orders sent into several Kingdoms Some went into Denmark others to England some were sent to the Isle of Cayana and other Isles of America Cape Verd nay and to the chief Ports and Coasts of the Kingdom whilst others in the Observatory at Home kept pace and entertained all necessary Correspondencies with them It was desired that an Occasion might offer of sending more Observators into several Parts of Europe to the Isle of Foroy where they have fixed the first Meridian the East-Indies and chiefly into China where it was known that Arts had flourished for these four thousand years where there are Books upon all Subjects and Libraries that may compare with the fairest in Europe from which the Kings Bibliothic might be enriched The Father parted from Macao December 5. 1681 in a Dutch Ship and arrived in Holland in October 1682. This Desire grew stronger in the chief Members of the Academy after they had conversed with Father Philip Couplet a Flemish Jesuit who upon his Return from China posted by Paris on his way to Rome whither he was sent about the Affairs of the Mission The Marquis de Louvoy Minister and Secretary of State who besides the Affairs of War and Oversight of the Kings Buildings was likewise charged with the Concerns of Arts and Sciences ordered in his Majesties Name the Members of the Royal Academy to draw up a Memoire of the most remarkable things they desired to be informed of from China to be given and recommended to Father Couplet who was to return thither the year following The Duke of Mayne favoured also the Design with a great Zeal for Religion and a Curiosity suitable to his Wit calculated for Knowledg and far above his years But the King surpassing all in Zeal for the Improvement of Arts and Sciences especially of such which in those Countries might most contribute to the Growth of Religion being affected with the Necessity of Missions was resolved to assist them with his Protection and Liberalities He was informed by Father Couplet that almost all the French Jesuits who above thirty years since went to China with Father Alexander of Rhodes were dead labouring in the Missions of that Kingdom that there were but a very few Missionaries remaining that the Emperour in the mean time continued to them his Protection and that in imitation of him the Vice-Roys and Governours of Provinces were also very kind to them and that in short there was a great want of Gospel-Labourers not only for cultivating the Christians who are already very numerous there but also for reaping the Fruit of the certain hopes which at present more than ever good men have of spreading the Faith in that vast Empire He had already gone so far as to assign a considerable Sum of Money for the French Jesuits who were to accompany Father Couplet and all the care was how they might be sent under his Majesties Authority when Divine Providence presented a most favourable occasion for it Hardly was Father Couplet departed for Rome when two Siam Mandarins with a Priest of the Foreign Missions setled in Siam named Monsieur le Vachet arrived in France They were sent by the Ministers of the King of Siam to learn News of the Embassie which the King their Master had sent to his Majesty with magnificent Presents on board a Ship belonging to the East-India Company called the Sun of the East which was reported to have been cast away His Majesty perceiving what Advances the King of Siam made in seeking his Friendship and that there was hopes besides he might turn Christian if there were an Ambassador sent to him resolved to do it and by the same way sends Jesuits into China which hath a great commerce with the Kingdom of Siam from whence it is not above five or six hundred Leagues disstant The King orders six Jesuits Mathematicians to be sent to China The King having thereupon declared his Intentions to the Marques de Louvoy and Father de la Chaize they forthwith demanded of our Superiors four Fathers at least that might be capable of labouring in consort with the Academy Royal in the Improvement of Arts and Sciences and at the same time employ themselves with the Missionaries of China in advancing the Christian Religion adding that they must needs be ready to depart within six weeks in the Ship that was to carry the French Ambassador to Siam It was no hard matter for our Superiours to find men that were willing to contribute to the furthering of that design Amongst many who offered themselves six were chosen who tho of different Provinces were happily at that time in the Jesuits College at Paris as if Divine Providence had only brought them together for obtaining a happiness which they earnestly longed for The Superiour named to be over them was Father Fontenay who for eight years past taught the Mathematics in that College The other five were Father Gerbillon Father l'Compte Father Visdelou Father Couvet and my self So soon as the thing was resolved upon The preparations for their departure we had private notice given us to prepare for our departure within two Months at farthest Next day we went together to Mount-Martre to thank God by the Mediation of the Holy Virgin and Holy Martyrs for the favour that was done us and to Offer our selves up to Jesus Christ more particularly in that place where St. Ignatius and his Companions made their first Vows and which is looked upon as the Cradle of the Society that from its birth hath devoted it self in a most particular manner to Foreign Missions That 's the reason that they who constitute it have ever since consecrated themselves to that duty by a solemn Vow so that every one thinking himself in particular destiny'd to it ought
troubles with Patience We commended it to them particularly that they would examine their Consciences at night and honour the holy Virgin who was ablest to procure them more Grace to live Christianly and to keep them from Heresie They who spoke French Latin Spanish or Portuguese were confessed We visited the Sick in their Houses and in the Hospital This was all that could be done for their Consolation in so short a time they not having the Liberty to come on board of us and hear Mass nor we to say it to them a Shoar The Jesuits are suspected of administing the Sacraments Nevertheless it must have been suspected at the Cape that we carried them the Sacrament For two of our Fathers returning one day from on Board with a Microscope in one of their Hands covered with Spanish Leather gilt two or three of the Inhabitants walking upon the Shoar imagined it to be the holy Sacrament which they were carrying to Catholicks in a Box. They drew near to the Father to know the truth of the matter the Father told them what it was and to convince them made them look into the Microscope Then one of them told him Sir I thought it had been so because I know that you are the greatest Enemies of our Religion We could not but smile at that saying but without making answer we kept on in our way strait to the Fort. To conclude all that concerns the Cape of Good Hope it only remains that I relate what we learned of the state of the Countrey For some of our Fathers were charged to inform themselves of that whilst the rest were taken up about their Observations In that Prospect we made it our Business to get out of M. Vanderstellen in the several Conversations we had with him all that could contribute to our Information and we made acquaintance with a young Physician of Braslon in Silesia called Mr. Claudius whom the Dutch for his great Capacity entertain at the Cape Seeing he hath already travelled into China and Japan where it was his Custom to observe every thing and that he designs and paints Animals and plants perfectly well the Hollanders have stop'd him there to assist them in making their new discoveries of Countries and labour about the natural History of Africa He hath compleated two great Volumes in Folio of several Plants which are drawn to the life and he hath made a Collection of all the kinds which he hath pasted to the Leaves of another Volume Without doubt the Heer van Rheeden who had always these Books by him at home and who shewed them to us has a design to give the publick shortly an Hortus Africus after his Hortus Malabaricus Had these Books been to be sold we would have spared no Cost to have bought them and sent them to the Kings Library Since this learned Physician hath already made some Progresses Sixscore Leagues up into the Country towards the North and East there to make new discoveries it is from him that we got all the knowledg we have of that Country of which he gave us a little Map made with his own hand with some Figures of the Inhabitants of the Country and of the rarest Animals which here are inserted The most remarkable things we learnt are what follow The Dutch finding that an establishment in that place would be convenient for their Ships The Dutch setling on the Cape which they yearly send to the Indies treated with the Chief Heads of that Nation who consented for a certain quantity of Tobacco and Brandy to surrender that Country to them and to withdraw farther up into the Continent This agreement was made about the year 1653 and since that time they have taken a great deal of pains to make a firm setlement on the Cape They have at present there a great Town and a Fort with five Bastions which commands all the Road. The air is very good the Soil excellent and Cort grows there as well as in Europe they have planted Vines which yield a most delicate Wine Wild Game they have every where in abundance Our Officers returned from Hunting and Fowling with wild Goats Antelopes Pheasant and abundance of Partridges as big as the Wood-hens of France The different Animals that are to be found on the Cape and there are four sorts of them The Oxen and the Sheep are got farther up amongst the wild Natives of the Country buâ— that is a Traffic which the Company reserves to themselves who buy them up for a little Tobacco and sell them again to the Inhabitants of the Cape and to Strangers that put in there for fresh Provisions We saw Sheep there that weighed fourscore pound weight and were very good meat They have there also Civit-cats many Wildcats Lyons and Tygers which have very pretty skins and especially huge great Apes that comes sometimes in Troops down from the Table-land into the Gardens of private Persons and carry away their Melons and other fruit Nine or ten Leagues from the Cape Eastward there is a Chain of Hills full oâ— Lyons Elephants and Rhinocerosses of a prodigious bigness Men of credit who have travelled there assured me that they had found the foot-traâ—e of an Elephant two foot and a half in diameter and that they had seen several Rhinocerosses as high and big as an ordinary Elephant A prodigiouâ— Elephant All that I can say as to that is that I have seen the two horns which that Beast carries on its Nose fastned together as they are naturally of a bigness and weight that inclined me to believe that what they told me of it was true A property of the Rhinoceros The Lieutenant of the Castle who went on that Progress told me that the Rhinoceros being in rage runs his greatest Horn into the Ground and continues to run a kind of Furrow with it till he come up with him that has smitten him The skin of that Beast is so hard that it is Musquet-proof unless one take his time to hit it when it shews its Flank the only place of its body where fire-arms or halbards that the Travellers carry can wound it There are Horses and Asses there of extraordinary beauty The first have a very little head and pretty long Ears They are covered all over with black and white streaks that reach from their back to their belly about four or five fingers broad and are very pretty to look on I saw the skin of one that had been killed which my Lord Ambassador bought to carry with him into France as a very curious thing As for the Asses they are of all colours they have a long blew list on the back that reaches from head to tail and the rest of the body like the horse full of pretty broad streaks blew yellow green black and white all very lively Stags are so plentiful there that they are seen feeding in Flocks like Sheep and I heard the Commanders Secretary say and
A Description of the Garden of the late General Spelman It is a House standing without the Town but so near the Citadel that it is only parted from it by the River which serves for a Ditch and this River being covered all over with little Boats one may cross it at all times This House was built by the late General Spelman that he might take the Air there during the excessive heats of Summer which is almost constant at Batavia and that he might treat the Officers of the Company and the Ambassadors and Envoys of Princes or Foreign States It consists in two great Galleries open on all hands which form a double square The Gallery at the end which crosses upon the other is extremely wide from both of them you enter into Halls with several Closets and all this is environed with Grass-plots and Gardens on the right hand there is a Menagerie full of several sorts of Animals as Stags Hinds Wild-goats Antelopes Estridges Storks Ducks and Geese of a singular kind On the left hand are the Gardens and Country-Houses of the Towns-people of best quality Behind it there is a little Pavilion consisting of three low Rooms and a Kitchin which is separated from the Galleries by a large Court that reaches on one hand to the Ditches of the Fort and on the other as far as the Sea. A little River runs under one of these Galleries and cross the Grass-plots which serves to make Ponds where Fish are kept Seeing this Building was only made for taking the fresh Air there is no regularity in the whole tho every part be regular enough The Gardens are full of Flowers at all times but we saw none there that were rare the Trees are Orange Limon and Pomegranat Trees planted in rows that make lovely Walks There we found Father Fucity The French Jesuits go to to see Father Dominic Fucity who having been already informed of our arrival impatiently expected us It is not to be exprest how much joy and resolution we felt at the sight of that holy Man honourable for his great Age and his long Labours in the Mission of Cochinchine and Tunquin He came from his Church the nine and twentieth of October 1684 with Father Emanuel Fereira who was the superior of the Mission It was a great grief to many good Christians to see them leave the Country and many tears were shed on both sides Nay if the Fathers had not left them some hopes of their return there would have been no comforting of them Every Idolatrous Mandarins bewailed their departure and the Christians conceived so great an aversion to those whom they suspected to be the causes of it that they would not confess any more incessantly calling for their first Masters and ancient Pastors This we were told by a Church-man in the Indies who was a person of good credit and very well acquainted with affairs of that nature These two Fathers arrived at Batavia the twenty third of December The good usage that the Faâ—herâ— Missioners of Tuâ—qâ—in met with at Batavia in a Dutch Ship that by a Storm was forced off of Siam whither they were bound Father Fucity stayed at Batavia for a Passage to Siam where he was to receive by way of Macao Orâ— from his Superiours and Money to perform his â—oyage before he returned to Europe Father Fereira was himself gone for them six weeks before and in that design went on Board a Ship of Macao The Character of Father Fucity and his Apostolick Labours in several Kingdoms Father Dominico Fucity is a Neapolitan and left Rome with that great Company of Jesuits whom the famous Father de Rhodes had obtain'd from the Reverend Father General for the Indies So that he had been almost thirty years in that Country where he hath always laboured as a true Apostle with admirable success and benediction He lived eight years in Conchinchine where he Baptized above four thousand Souls with his own hands and sixteen whole years in Tunquin where he has Baptized eighteen thousand He hath suffered long and irksom Imprisonments He hath been eight days and eight nights with the cangue about his neck which is a great and heavy Ladder and eight or nine Months in Irons He hath been condemned to death and oftner then once upon the brink of Martyrdom His life hath been almost nothing else but a continual Martyrdom he hath made sixteen Voyages by Sea and hath been five times in danger of being killed by the Infidels he hath lived ten or eleven years in Tunquin without daring to appear abroad keeping himself in the day time hid in a little Boat and in the night time making his excursions through the Towns of the Country visiting the Christians by turns Preaching Catechising Baptising and administring the Sacraments with infinite Troubles It is not from him that we came to know these things he is humble and modest and we observed many great Virtues in him during our abode at Batavia and Siam We were particularly charmed with his mildness towards all People his reservedness in speaking of those who had persecuted him with greatest violence with his continual union with God his tender Devotion that makes him melt in tears every time he says Mass or hears it his patience in suffering all things without complaining and with his zeal for the salvation of Souls In short he is a Man really Apostolical and would receive Elogies at Rome whether he is called to justifie himself if his Virtues were known there as they are in the Indies When the Arrival of those two Fathers was known at Batavia The earnestness of the Catholics of Batavia to receive the Sacraments not only the Portuguese who live there but the Catholics also of other Nations that are there as we were told in great numbers came daily to see them were present at their Masses on Sundays and Holy-days and confessed to them Sometime after Father Fereira went away in a Portuguese Ship for Macao whither Father Fucity thought it not fit to accompany him lest the Magistrates of that Town might force him to return to Tunquin with the Ambassadors whom they were about to send thither because that Father is extremely well known and respected there The zeal of the Catholics made too great a noise at Batavia and so great was the concourse of People that came flocking to Father Fucity that the Protestant Ministers complained to the General that a Jesuit performed the publick Exercise of the Catholic Religion in Batavia the Mahometism and Idolatrous Worship and Sacrifice be permitted there and the Ministers don't at all trouble the Magistrates with their Scruples upon that account Upon their Remonstrances the General set a Sentinel at the Fathers door to hinder Catholics from entring his House and sent him word that he desired him not to walk abroad in the Town but with a Guard to wait upon him After a long Conference with Father Fuciti we returned to
of Your Government the Magnificence of Your Court the Greatness of Your Dominions and what particularly You were willing that He should know by Your Ambassadors the Esteem You have for Him confirmed by that constant Protection which You give His Subjects especially the Bishops who are by me and who are the Ministers of the true God. He is very sensible of the many Illustrious Effects of the Esteem You have for Him and He resolves Sir to correspond with it to the utmost of His Power In that Design He is ready to treat with Your Majesty to send You of His Subjects to entertain â—nd encrease Commerce to give You all the Testimonies of a sincere Friendship and to begin betwixt the two Crowns an Vnion that may remain as strict to Posterity as Your Territories are separated from His by those vast Seas that disjoyn them But nothing will more confirm Him in that Resolution nor unite You more closely together than to live in the Sentiments of the same Belief And it is that particularly Sir which the King my Master a Prince so Wise and Sharp sighted tbat He hath always given good Counsel to the Kings that are His Allies hath commanded me to represent to You on His Part. He adjures You by the Interest which as being one of Your most sincere Friends he takes in Your real Glory to consider that Sovereign Majesty wherewith You are invested upon Earth cannot be derived from any but the true God that 's to say from an Omnipotent Eternal and Infinite God such as Christians acknowledge him to be who alone makes Kings to Reign and Rules the Fortune of all People To submit Your Grandure to this God who governs Heaven and Earth is much more Rational Sir than to refer them to the other Deities that are worshiped in the East whose Impotence Your Majesty who hath so much Light and Penetration cannot but easily see But it will be made far more palpable to You Sir if You 'l be pleased for some time to give a Hearing to the Bishops and other Missionaries that are here It will be the welcomest News that I can carry to my Master Sir that Your Majesty being convinced of the Truth takes pains to be instructed in the Christian Religion This will raise in Him a greater Esteem and Admiration for Your Majesty and make His Subjects more eager to come into Your Dominions and in a Word Sir will compleat Yoor Glory seeing by that Means Your Majesty having so prosperously Reigned upon Earth makes sure of an Eternal Reign in the Heavens The Bishop told the Lord Constance in Portuguese the Sense of his Excellencies Complement and that Minister explained it to the King in Siamese keeping in the mean while in a very respectful Posture as the other Princes and Lords did who still continued prostrate in the Hall at his Side but a little lower It would be no easie matter to describe the Joy and Gladness which King of Siam expressed on that occasion and during the whole Day It was a Surprise to the Ambassador In what manner the Ambassador presented the Kings Letter to the King of Siam when he entered the Hall to see the King so high above him and he seemed somewhat troubled that he had not been told of it When his Complement was made the next thing he was to do in course was to advance and present the King his Masters Letter to the King of Siam It was agreed upon with the Lord Constance that to shew greater Respect to the Kings Letter the Ambassador should take it from the Abbot de Choisi who for that end should stand by his Side during his Speech and hold the Letter in a golden Cup with a very long Foot. But the Ambassador perceiving the King so high above him that to reach up to him he must have taken the Cup by the lower part of the Foot and raised his Arm very high thought that that Distance suited not with his Dignity and that he ought to present the Letter nearer hand Having a little considered he thought it was his best Course to hold the Cup by the Boul and to stretch his Arm but half out The King perceiving the reason why he acted so rose up smiling and stooping with his Body over the Throne met him half way to receive the Letter He then put it upon his Head which was a Mark of extraordinary Honour and Esteem that he was willing to shew to the great King that sent it After that he made answer to the Ambassador that he was extreamly obliged to his most Christian Majesty for the Honour he did him and that he had no greater desire than to entertain an eternal Peace and Amity with his Majesty He then asked him about that Princes Health whom he always called his good Friend and about the Health of all the Royal Family and expressed his Gladness that his Excellence and all his Retinue were arrived in good Health The Ambassador presents the Abbot of Choisi and the Gentlemen of his Retinue to the King of Siam The Ambassador having thanked his Majesty for all his Favours presented to him the Abbot of Choisi as a Person of Merit and the Gentlemen of his Retinue saying that they were all Officers in the Kings Fleet that most of them had been on several Occasions engaged against the Enemy's of the State and therein signalized their Valour The King listned to him with a great deal of satisfaction and then turned the Discourse upon the Ambassadors whom he had sent into France of whom he had no News He enlarged a pretty while upon the Praises of the King seeming overjoyed to hear what the Ambassador told him of his Greatness Wisdom Conquests and of the Peace which he had given to Europe In fine he bid tell the Ambassador that if he stood in need of any thing in his Kingdom for himself and Followers he should address himself to his Barcalon whom he had expresly charged to satisfie him in all things So the first Audience ended with much satisfaction on both sides The Ambassador sees the white Elephant in his Apartment When the Ambassador came out of the Hall the Lord Constance carried him to see the white Elephant which is so highly esteemed in the Indies and which hath been the cause of so many Wars He is but little and so old that he is wrinkly all over Several Mandarins are appointed to take care of him and he is only served in Gold at least the two Basons that were set before him were of beaten Gold of an extraordinary Size and Thickness His Apartment is stately and the Ceiling of the Pavilion where he stands very neatly gilt It being now late the Ambassador came out of the Royal Palace and in the same Pomp and Order that he came to his Audience went to the House that was prepared for him Sometime after the Bishop was sent for by Orders from the King to translate the
Water and the ends bend and are crooked and rise very high most part of these Balons have the Figure of Sea Horses Dragons and other sorts of Animals Nothing but the Poop and Prow are gilt the rest hardly appearing above Water some of them are beautified with several Figures made of pieces of Mother of Pearl wherewith they are inâ—aid After that the King had said his Prayers at the Pagod and there made his Presents he went to one of his Palaces hard by and in the Evening returned to the Town according to his custom upon his Return he took pleasure to make a Match at Rowing and proposed a Reward to those that should get first to the Palace from whence he set out in the Morning all the Afternoon was spent in drawing up the Balons into Squadrons and to match one against another Whilst matters were thus ordering the Ambassador came to see the Show He was conducted by the Lord Constance who also invited us and sent us a Balon to carry us along with him The King would needs be one of the Antagonists but seeing his Balon was manned with more Rowers and those all choice Men he quickly got the better on 't and victoriously entred the Town long before the rest We placed our selves near the Ambassador that we might see the King. As he passed along by our Balon we saw him very near and he looked upon us in such a manner as made us conclude that the Lord Constance had already spoken of us to him It was pleasant to see with what rapidity these Balons every way proper for cleaving the Water mounted up the River in emulation one of another and none of the Rowers in the space of three Leagues took so much as one Minutes rest They shouted either for joy or grief according as they gained or lost the advantage All the City and People about came running to see this Show They drew up in their Balons by the shoar as in two Lines which reached three Leagues off of the City so that having seen and considered that confluence of people that went down and came up the River we judged that there could not be less than about twenty thousand Balons and above two hundred thousand souls the other French reckoned a great many more and confidently averred that there were above six hundred thousand souls of them When the King past by upon the River all the windows and doors of the Houses were shut and the Port holes of the Ships too All commanded to go out that so no body might be in a higer place than the King. The King's Progress from Siam to Louvo Eight days after the King with the Princess and all his Wives went abroad again in a Progress to Louvo This is a Town fifteen or twenty Leagues to the Northward of Siam where he â—pends nine or ten Months of the year because â—e is more at liberty there and is not obliged to be shut up as he is at Siam that he may keep his Subjects in Obedience and Respect The Lord Constance who having seen our Parents for being the most Christian King's Mathematicians was resolved to procure us a private Audience at Louvo would have us go thither with our Instruments and intimated to us that the King was desirous to entertain us at Court until we should embark for Macao He sent us two great Balons for our Baggage and another of four and twenty Oars to carry us We parted the fifteenth of November about One of the Clock in the Afternoon and went in the Retinue of my Lord Ambassador About two Leagues from the Town upon a vast Plain covered with Water The Funeral of a great Talapoin and reaching out of sight we met with a new Spectacle and that was the Obsequies of a famous Talapoin chief of the Religion of the Peguins His Body was laid in a Coffin of Aromatic Wood. The Coffin was mounted upon a Funeral Pile round which were four great Pillars of gilt Wood which carried an high Pyramid of several Stories This kind of burning Chappel was accompanied with several little pretty high and square Towers made of Wood and covered with Pastboard very rudely painted with a great many Paper Figures All this was surrounded with an Enclosure built square upon which several other Towers were placed at competent distances Four of them were as high as the Pyramid in the middle and stood in the four Corners and on each side of that great Square there were two other Towers less than the former They were all full of Fire-works and we saw many flying Fuzes come out of them The four great Towers placed at the four Corners of the great Square were joyned together by little Wooden Houses painted with several antic Figures of Dragons Apes Devils with horns on their heads c. Betwixt these Hovels there were at competent distances certain Openings contrived in form of a Portal to let Balons in and out The Telapoins of Pegu to a vast number in their Balons took up almost the whole space that was betwixt the Funeral Pile and the great square Enclosure They all looked with a grave and modest Countenance now and then singing and sometimes keeping profound Silence An infinite number of People Men and Women indifferently came after them and assisted at this Funeral Pomp. So new and unexpected a Scene made my Lord Ambassador stop for some time and us with him that we might view the Ceremonies of that stately Funeral However we saw nothing but mimical Dances and certain ridiculous Farces acted by the Peguins and Siamese under Sheds of Bambous that were open on all hands They acted the postures of Men possest with hideous Masks upon their Faces Seeing this Funeral Pomp was to last till Night and that we had four or five Leagues to go before we could come to the place of Lodging we saw only the beginning of it and some Fire-Works The Honours of this Nature given to the Dead amongst the Siamese makes them strongly addicted to their Religion The Talapoins who are very interested Doctors teach that the more Expence is made in the Obsequies of a dead man the more advantageously his Soul is lodged in the Body of some Prince or some other considerable Animal In that Belief the Siamese many times undo themselves by making magnificent Funerals We came in very good time to the House where we were to lie it was in all things like to those little Palaces which were erected for my Lord Ambassador upon the River It may be said of this Countrey that there cannot be a more pleasant Prospect than it affords When we were upon the Canal cut through the Fields to shorten the Way from Siam to Louvo we saw Plains reaching out of sight full of Rice and when we entred into the River the green Trees and Villages wherewith it was bordered refreshed our sight with an agreeable variety Before we left that place the Ambassador had a mind
Sir to make any suitable Returns for so great Favours but since we cannot do it as we ought to do we hope your Majesty will suffer us to do it the best way we can We are the Servants of the true God and the Subjects of a great Monarch As the Subjects of so great a King we will inform him of the Favours your Majesty hath shewed us and as Servants of the true God we will make our earnest Prayers to him that he would in all things prosper your Reign and so enlighten your Majesty with his Divine Truths that after so glorious a Reign upon Earth you may come to the Possession of the Glories of Heaven Some days after the L. Constance discoursed his Majesty about a Project which he had had a long time in his thoughts of bringing to Siam twelve Jesuits Mathematicians whom he had already demanded of our Reverend Father General and about the Design of building an Observatory in imitation of Paris and Pekin He made his Majesty sensible of the Glory and Profit that would thereby redound to him and the Advantage that his Subjects would reap from it who would be taught the finest Arts and Sciences of Europe His Majesty much approved that Project and bid the Lord Constance tell us that he would have an Observatory built in his Kingdom which he would bestow upon the Fathers of the Company of Jesus whom he much esteemed and whom he would protect and favour in all things that lay in his power Whereupon the Lord Constance thought it fit that some of us should return to France to press that Affair which seemed to him to be of extream consequence for Religion He mentioned it one day to the Father Superior when we were all three together We joyfully consented to it and the Commission falling upon me I had Orders presently to prepare for my Return It grieved me to the heart then to see my self for a long time removed to so great a distance from China which I had longed after for so many years The Lord Constance who is no less ready to embrace the Occasions of advancing the Glory of God than of procuring Advantages to his Master communicated to us another View which he thought might contribute much to the Conversion of the Siamese He pretends that if once their Esteem and Affection can be gained by Zeal Meekness and Learning it will be no difficult matter to dispose them to hearken to Instruction That he throughly knew the temper of that Nation and no man better why Christianity hath made no greater progress at Siam after so many years endeavours of having it planted there that besides the Observatory there must be another House of Jesuits where they should as much as lay in their power lead the austere and retired Life of the Talapoins that have so great credit with the people that they should take their Habit visit them often and endeavour to convert some of them to the Christian Religion that in short it was well known how that Conduct had succeeded with the Portuguese Jesuits who are at Madura towards Bengal The truth is we have learnt from several places and very lately too at Siam from a French Missionary who had been at St. Thomas two Months before that these Fathers had liâ—ed several years amongst those People and applied themselves with care and pains to their Conversion without any considerable fruit One of them who had been made Superior of that Mission having long implored Assistance from heaven and reflecting on the Reverence that those People had for the Bramines who are their Priests and Religious thought that if he did take the Habit of the Bramens and lived after their manner he might gain Crediâ— amongst them and win them over to Jesus Christ He communicated that Design to his Superiors who proposed it to the Congregation de propaganda Fide. It was considered of at Rome and it being represented to the Cardinals that the Habits the Bramens wore were no Mark of Religion but of Nobility and eminent Quality they permitted that Father and some other Jesuits who approved his Judgment to try that last way for the Conversion of those People Having so taken the Badge of the Bramens they began to live as they did and since that time these Apostolic Men have been seen walking upon the burning hot Sand bare-footed and bare-headed and continually exposed to the heat of the Sun which is extraordinary there because the Bramens wear no Stockings nor Shoes and never cover their Head living on nothing but Herbs and spending three or four days without eating under a Tree or on the high way waiting till some Indian affected with such surprizing austerity should come and hear them God hath so much blessed their Zeal and Mortification that they have converted above threescore thousand Indians and the People come flocking in so great numbers to be instructed that they value not all the hardship and trouble they have endured The same Church-man added that he had seen one of those Fathers whose feet had been all chopt with the burning Sand which getting afterwards into the Wounds put him to extream pain and raised strange Swellings Upon what he told us of these Missions we earnestly desired to see a more ample Relation of them being perswaded that we should therein meet with rare Examples of Zeal and great ground of Edification A VOYAGE TO SIAM The Fifth BOOK Of our Return from Siam WHen it was resolved upon that I should return to France the Lord Constance redoubled the Testimonies of Friendship wherewith he had till then honour'd me telling me that he wished he might frequently discourse me in private Next day I went to see him according as he had enjoyned me at parting I found him taken up in preparing Presents for those who had had the greatest hand in the Favour which the King had done us of sending us to China and making us draw near to see them these are but very mean Presents said he for so great Lords But you shall tell them Father that I came to know of it but very late and after I had given away all the finest and most curious things I had For besides the Presents which he sent to France and that he had given to the French who were at Siam he had sent some very considerable to Portugal by the three Ambassadors whom the King of Siam had dispatched to Lisbone sometime before we arrived there Nor is it said he a Present that I would have them take as from me but as from one of your Brothers to thank them for the Goodness they have for you and the Protection they honour you with We could make no answer to such obliging Expressions but by our most humble Thanks but he would not hear us interrupting and adjuring us not to speak to him in that Strain that being our Brother he was perwaded he did no more but his Duty The same day that we had
his Teeth which he presently presented to the Tyger and therewith struck him so pat that he tossed him up to a great height in the Air. This so stun'd the Beast that he durst no more approach the Elephant but taking several turns about the Yard he sometimes sprung at those whom he saw in the Galleries Then three Elephants were let loose against him who mauled him so by turns that once more he counterfeited to be dead and afterward made all the shifts he could to avoid them They would certainly have killed him had not the Ambassador begg'd his Pardon of the Lord Constance who put an end to the Combat Next Day towards the Evening we went to the Palace with my Lord Ambassador there we saw an Illumination which is yearly made at the beginning of the Year It consisted of eighteen hundred or two thousand Lights some whereof were placed in little Windows purposely made in the Walls that environ the Palace and the rest in Lanthors in a pretty singular Order Above all we admired some certain large China-Lanthorns like to Globes which are made of one single piece of transparent Horn as clear as Glass and some others of a kind of China-glass made of Rice These Illuminations were accompanied with the Noise of Drums Fifes and Trumpets All the while that the King was present at this Show the Princess gave the like to the Court Ladies in another part of the Palace When the King was gone we had time to consider all things at a near distance The Lord Constance show'd us the Elephant Prince who is of an extraordinary Height and Beauty we were told that they called him by that Name because he came into the World the same day that the present King was born He made us also observe near to the Kings Apartment a Pavilion where they keep the Elephant that is upon Guard it is one of those that are in the Palace and are relieved by turns being always kept in a readiness if the King should chance to want them by Day or by Night Having often mentioned Elephants and the different manner they are harnassed according to the Qualities of those that mount them it hath been thought fit to give the Reader the following Cuts of the several sorts of them These Illuminations lasted several days all the while we were in the Palace to observe them a great many Mandarins of the first and second Order lay prostrate upon the Ground before the King in two different Halls making to him the Zombaye which is the most reverential Mark of Adoration Much about the same time the Moors made great Illuminations for eight days together in Honour of their Prophet Mahomet and his Son whose Funerals they celebrated They began to solemnize the Festival the Evening before about four of the Clock at Night by a kind of Procession wherein there were above two thousand Souls There they carried the Figure of the Tombs of those two Impostors with many Symbols of a pretty neat Representation amongst others certain great Cages covered with painted Cloth and carried by Men that marched and continually turned in cadence to the Sound of Drums and Timbrels The quick and regular Motion of these huge Machines which we saw at a distance without perceiving those that carried them occasioned an agreeable Surprise At the Head of this great Confluence of People some Grooms led three or four Horses in rich Trappings and a great many People carrying several Lanthorns at the end of long Poles lighted all the Procession and sung in divers Quires after a very odd manner With the same Zeal they continued this Festival for several Nights together till five of the Clock in the Morning It is hardly to be conceived how these Porters of Machines The Moors make a Feast to celebrate the Memory of their Prophet that uncessantly turned could perform that Exercise for fifteen or sixteen Hours together nor how the Singers that raised their Voices as high as was possible for them could sing so long The rest of the Procession looked modest enough some marched before the Singers who surrounded Coffins carried upon eight Mens Shoulders and the rest were mingled in the Croud with them There were a great many Siamese Men and Women Young and Old there who have embraced the Mahometan Religion For since the Moors have got footing in the Kingdom they have drawn over a great many People to their Religion which is an Argument that they are not so addicted to their Superstitions but that they can forsake them when our Missionaries have had Patience and Zeal enough to instruct them in our Mysteries It is true that Nation is a great Lover of Shows and splendid Ceremonies and by that means it is that the Moors who celebrate all their Festivals with a great deal of Magnificence have perverted many of them to the Sect of Mahomet These Shows made us heartily condole the Misfortune of those poor Infidels and we often discoursed of the Fruit that so many able Men as are in Europe and particularly in France might reap amongst them if they had as much Zeal as Learning The King who took pleasure to give the Ambassador new Diversions dayly would have him to see the manner of taking and taming Elephants This being a thing unknown in Europe and we having been Witnesses of it the Render I hope will be glad to find here an example and exact description of the same The way of taking and taming Elephants About a quarter of a League from Louvo there is a kind of an Amphitheater of a large and long square Figure encompassed with high Walls and Terrasses where the Spectators are placed Along these Walls within runs a Palisadoe of thick Pillars fastened in the Ground at a foot distance one from another behind which the Huntsmen retreat when they are pursued by the fretted Elephants There is a very large opening made towards the Countrey and opposite to it on the side of the Town one less which leads into a narrow Alley through which an Elephant can hardly pass and that Alley ends in a large manage where they compleatly tame him at length When the day appointed for this Hunting is come Huntsmen go into the Woods mounted on She-Elephants which are trained to the Game and cover themselves with leaves of Trees that they may not be seen by the wild Elephants When they are got pretty forward in the Forest where they think some Elephant may be they make the Female give some neys that are proper to attract the Males who presetnly answer by dreadful roarings Then the Huntsmen perceiving them at a vast distance return back again and gently lead the Females towards the Amphitheater we mentioned the wild Elephants never fail to follow them he whom we saw tamed entred with them and so soon as he was there the Barr was shut the females kept on their way cross the Amphitheater and at one anothers tails past along the little
which the King had presented him with Before I left the City I had a long Discourse with Father Suarez and Father Fucity These Fathers have learnt to suffer without complaining and as to that point they have a niceness of Conscience that makes them observe Measures that the strictest Morality could not always comply with They only hinted to me that they had been surprised that the Jesuits of the Indies should be accused of taking Money as it is practised in Parishes for Administring Baptism saying Mass c. seeing an infinite Number of People could bear Witness to the contrary and they protested to me before God that never any thing had been done that might in the least alter the Rule of our Institution I had long desired an Opportunity of being cleared as to a Matter of Fact that had made a Noise but I had forgot to do it till then I asked them if it was true that a certain Minister of Batavia called Ferreira was an Apostate Jesuit as it was given out They made me answer that he had never been neither of our Company nor of any other religious Society which he had acknowledged to several Persons and to Father Fucity himself at Batavia that perhaps the thing that had given occasion to the Report was the Conformity in Name which he had with a Jesuit who is also called Ferreira and who hath been formerly mentioned from whence ground had been taken to confound the two into one Person Would to God that the Original of such kind of Reports were only to be attributed to a bare Mistake for how many such have been of late years published in certain Libels that have flown about in Holland Distance of Place hath in this favoured the Malicious and the natural Inclination or Interest that Men have to give Credit to that that 's Evil has been the cause that some have believed it Having viewed things at nearer distance I have with humble Submission adored Providence that suffers Men sometimes to lash out and speak the worst of those of whom had they been just they might have said the best They ought to consider that very far from injuring those whom they would decry they only exercise their Patience keep them humble and hinder them from receiving in this World a weak recompence for the Labours which deserve a more solid Reward in Heaven which is a great Kindness to them whereas all reflects upon Religion which is exposed to the Censure of Hereticks and the Contempt of Infidels We parted from Siam the Fourteenth of December about four or five a Clock in the Evening Departure from Siam The Lord Constance who would wait upon the Ambassador as far as the Bar followed him in a stately and princely Balon which the King sometime since had obliged him to take and just such another as that which carried the Ambassador The Train consisted of twenty Balons of State which went as low as the Tabangue where he was received the Day of his Entry As soon as they arrived there they drew up and made a Lane according to their Quality that the Ambassadors Balon might pass betwixt them and so the Mandarins who were on board of them took their Leave and returned We came to Bancok about four a Clock in the Morning where the Lord Constance prayed the Ambassador to stay till next Day that he might view the Fortifications of the Citadel and give his Judgment of them Whilst we were at Bancok The King of Siams Letter is carried on board the Oyseau a Frigat of the King of Siam's past that way carrying the Letter which his Majesty wrote to the King of France The Letter was in a Gold Box shaped like a Cone and this Box was put up in another bigger Silver Box which also was enclosed within a third of Japan Wood varnished wrapped up in a piece of rich Silk Stuff flowered with Gold. All this was in a gilt Pyramid placed aloft on the Stern of the Frigat with many Parasols to cover it When the Frigat past by with its Convoy of Balons of State the Governors of Places that lye upon the River made a Discharge of all their Artillery and every one of them waited upon the Letter as far as their Government reached receiving it from one another with the same Honours and Ceremonies Sunday December the Sixteenth the Ambassador arrived at the Bar and the same Day about seven of the Clock at Night went on board the Oyseau As I had been all along in the Balon of the Lord Constance so he would have me to go on board of one of his Frigats at the Mouth of the River and stay with him there two Days to dispatch some Business There he gave me a Letter to the King which I have had the Honour to present to his Majesty We afterwards weighed and came to an Anchor again near the Ambassadors Ship to do him the Honour that he had never done to any before The King of Siam's Ambassadors who were not as yet come on board the Oyseau desired the Ambassador to send them the Long-boat to carry on board their Masters Letter They went and fetcht it from the Frigat and when they were come to the Ships side the second Ambassador put the Pyramid wherein it was upon his Shoulders and so came on board no body daring to touch it It was placed upon aloft on the Stern with the Parasols and one and twenty Guns were fired at the Ceremony Nevertheless the Ambassadors were prevailed upon to carry it into their Cabin because being so placed it would hinder the working of the Ship. The Ambassador and Lord Constance visited one another on board their Ships with the usual Salutes and the last time that the Lord Constance came on board the Oyseau to take his Leave of the Ambassador they gave one another great marks of mutual Friendship and parted with Grief Our three Fathers who were come so far returned with the Lord Constance and Bishop of Metellopolis leaving me troubled and pensive but I endeavoured to moderate my Sorrow by the hopes of seeing them again within a few years When all were gone into the Chaloop the Lord Constance called me and gave me a Chapelet made of the costly Wood of Calamba but the Cross and great Beads were of Tambag Then the Chaloop put off and we saluted her with thirteen Guns for the last Farewel We were ready to set sail and stayed for nothing now but Monsieur Vachet and the Ambassadors Secretary they had fallen down with the rest to the Mouth of the River but for three Days time no body could tell what was become of them This put a stop to our Voyage and we were just going to weigh Anchor when we saw them coming with two or three Mandarins of the Retinue of the Ambassadors of Siam The Currents had carried away the Galley they were on board of with so much violence that they could not resist it nor
enough replied the Talapoin the stress of the Disputation rests upon the great labours and the death his enemies made him suffer whilst he was a Monkey Let us now return to the fabulous Story of Thevathat Being a person of much wit and address Thevathat makes a Schism and declares himself against his Brother he found the way to make a new Sect wherein he engaged several Kings and much People who embraced his Doctrine and imitated his examples That was the Original of a Schism which divided the world into two parts and gave a beginning to two Religions whereas before that all Mankind had but one Some of whom they reckon us for the Reasons we shall presently alledge became the Disciples of Thevathat and the rest of Sammonokhodom Thevathat tho he was but the younger finding himself supported by so many Princes who espoused his quarrel employed open Force and Treason to Ruin his elder Brother He invented the most heinous Calumnies to blacken his Reputation but these Designs succeeded not Nay he was oftner than once overcome when to confirm his followers in the Faith which he had taught them he had the boldness to contend with his Brother who should work the greatest Miracles Thevathat conspiring to to be God is with his Followers deprived of many knowledges Ambition made him desire to be God but not being really so he was ignorant of a great many things which his Brother perfectly knew and because his haughtiness would not suffer him to listen to Sommonokhodom he did not learn of him what was done in Hell and Paradise nor the Doctrine of the Transmigration of Souls nor yet the changes that had been and were to be in all ages from whence they conclude that it is not to be wondred at if we who are his Disciples find nothing of all those things in the Books he hath left us if our Scriptures be full of obscurities and doubts and that if being wholly ignorant of Divinity we have so great a mind to reason and dispute with them For since Thevathat our Master knew nothing of that himself he could not instruct us therein Hence is it also that we are ignorant of the secret of curing Men of preserving them from all evils of making Gold and Silver and of discovering those precious Metals in the places where they are hid For they believe that there are vast Treasures in certain unknown places but that I know not what supernatural Virtue hinders us from perceiving them or if we do see them it makes them appear to us under a shape and figure which imposes upon our sight They also object to us that we cannot work many prodigies which they pretend they can do and are the Essence of Magick because Thevathat having as little skill that way as in all the rest he could not teach us But tho Thevathat was not God and that by consequence he had neither the agility nor subtilty of Body nor the other perfections of Divinity yet he excelled in several Sciences especially in the Mathematicks and Geometry Now as it is of him if we 'll take their word for it that we have received these knowledges it is no wonder if we be good Geometricians and be perfectly well skilled in other arts In the new Doctrine which he published he foisted in a great many things The Talapoins perswade the Siamese that the Christian Religion is taken out of the Law which Sommonokhodom taught them which he had taken out of his Brothers Religion and that hath rendred both Laws so like one another in several points They differ however in that Thevathats Law is far less severe than that of Sommonokhodom for it allows Men a great liberty of killing and eating Animals tho' the use of them be unlawful and criminal From the Doctrine of Thevathat as out of a source of Schism seven other Sects are sprung which have a great deal of affinity one with another and that Tradition they apply to the Heresies of the Dutch English and other people separated from the Church of Rome for they look upon them as so many shoots sprung from our Religion and that confirms them the more in their Opinions After all the outrages that Thevathat had done to his Brother without any respect to Nature or even to Divinity Thevathat is punished in Hell for having persecuted his Brother It was but just he should be punished And so the Siamese Scriptures make mention of his punishment and Sommonokhodom himself relates that after he became God he saw that wicked Brother of his in the deepest place of Hell. He was in the eight Habitation that is to say in the place where the greatest Offenders are tormented and there by a terrible punishment he expiated all the sins that he had committed and especially the injuries he had done to me Explaining afterwards the pains which Thevathat was made to suffer he says that he was fastened to a Cross with great nails which piercing his hands and feet put him to extreme pain that on his head he had a Crown of Thorns that his Body was full of wounds and to compleat his Misery the Infernal place burnt him without consuming of him So sad a spectacle moved him to compassion he forgot all the wrongs his Brother had done him and could not see him in that condition without taking a resolution to help him He proposed to him then these three words to be adored Ppu thang Thamang Sangkhang sacred and mysterious words for which the Siamese have a profound veneration and whereof the first signifies God the second the word of God and the third the imitator of God promising him that if he would accept so easie and reasonable a condition to deliver him from all the pains to which he was condemned Thevathat consented to adore the first two words but he never would adore the third because it signified Priest or Imitator of God protesting that Priests were sinful Men that deserved no respect To punish him for that Pride he still suffers and will suffer for a great many years to come The Talapoins take the Siamese off from turning Christians by perswading them that Jesus Christ is Thevathat the Brother of their God. Tho there be many things that keep the Siamese at a distance from the Christian Law yet one may say nothing makes them more averse from it than this thought The similitude that is to be found in some points betwixt their Religion and ours making them believe that Jesus Christ is the very same with that Thevathat mentioned in their Scriptures they are perswaded that seeing we are the Disciples of the one we are also the followers of the other and the fear they have of falling into Hell with Thevathat if they follow his Doctrine suffers them not to hearken to the propositions that are made to them of embracing Christianity That which most confirms them in their prejudice is that we adore the Image of
158 The several Nations at Siam come and complement the Ambassador 160 The Lord Constance receives the Ambassador at the River-side 163 The Respect shewn to the Kings Letter 164 The Ambassador is carried to the Palace ibid. A Description of the Palace of the King of Siam 165 A Description of the Throne of the King of Siam 167 The Ambassador enters the Hall of Audience 168 The Harangue of the French Ambassador to the King of Siam 169 In what manner the Ambassador presented the Kings Letter to the King of Siam 171 The Ambassador presents the Abbot of Choisi and the Gentlemen of his Retinue to the King of Siam 172 The Ambassador sees the white Elephant in his Apartment ibid. The French Kings Letter to the King of Siam 173 The Ambassador visits the Bishop of Metellopolis 174 The King of Siam sends a Present to the Ambassador 175 The Ambassador ordered Money to be thrown out at the Windows to those who brought him the Present ib. The King of Siam sends his Presents to the Pagods with much Pomp. 176 The King treats the Ambassador in his Palace magnificently 178 The Ambassador Visits the most famous Pagod of Siam 180 A Pick weighs an hundred and twenty five pounds weight 181 A description of one of the fairest Temples of Siam ib. Rejoycings performed at Siam for the Coronation of the Kings of England and Portugal 185 The King of Siam goes abroad publickly to visit a Pagod 187 The King's Progress from Siam to Louvo 190 The Funeral of a great Talapoin 191 The description of a Palace of the King of Siam built after the European manner 193 The King gives the Ambassador an Audience at Louvo 195 The Elephants have five Toes in each Foot. 197 A description of Louvo 198 The King of Siam gives a private Audience to the French Jesuits ibid. The Jesuits Harangue presented to the King. 200 The Fifth Book THe Moors make a Feast to celebrate the Memory of their Prophet 215 The way of taking and taming Elephants 216 The Harangue of the Lord Constance to the King of Siam 216 The King of Siam answers the Lord Constance 222 The Motives that keep the King of Siam firm in his Religion 223 The Lord Constance his Reply to the King of Siam's Objections about changing of Religion 225 A Character of the King of Siam 227 We began to make observations at Louvo 230 Observation about the variation of the Needle 231 The King of Siam observes with the Jesuits an Ecclipse of the Moon in his Palace ibid. The King of Siam invites the Ambassador to an Elephant hunting 232 A description of that hunting 233 The King of Siam demands the Chevalier de Fourbin from the Ambassador 234 The Jesuits prepare to observe in the Kings Presence at Theepossonne 235 They begin the Observation of the Ecclipse before the King. 236 The King puts several Questions of Astronomy to the Jesuits 238 The way of catching Elephants 246 The Ambassador takes his Audience of Leave of his Majesty of Siam 248 Departure from Siam 251 The King of Siam's Letter is carried on board the Oyseau 252 Departure from the Bar of Siam 254 News from an English Ship outward bound 256 Putting out from the Bay of the Cape 258 We past the Line at the first Meridian 259 The Sixth Book THe Scituation of the Kingdom of Siam 264 A description of the Kingdom of Siam 265 The Habits of the Siamese 266 A Character of the Siamese and their Manners 267 The property of Betle and Areca 268 The property of Tea 269 The manner of preparing Tea ibid. What Ginseng is and its virtues ibid. The way of preparing Ginseng 270 Some particulars concerning certain Birds Nest 271 Various customs of the Siamese ibid. The Curiosity of the Siamese to know things future 272 The Reverence the Siamese have for their King. 273 The King holds Council several times a day 274 The Kings Daughter hath her Court and Council ibid. The Kingdom of Siam descends not from Father to Son. ibid. What the Siamese believe of their God. 275 The knowledg of the God of the Siamese 276 Wherein consists his happiness ibid. Men may become Gods. 277 The Siamese acknowledge a permanent state of Sanctity ibid. The Siamese believe a Heaven and a Hell. 278 What the Siamese believe of Hell. ibid. What they believe of Heaven 279 Vpon a Religious account the Siamese respect those who are any ways Eminent by the advantages of body mind or fortune 280 They know the punishment and guilt of Sin. 281 They believe Angels to be corporal 282 They acknowlegdge no other Devils but damned Souls 283 They Tell strange stories of certain Anchorites ibid. Their Belief touching the Eternity of the World. 284 The Earth in the opinion of the Siamese is flat and square ibid. The System of the Siamese 286 Prodigies which the Siamese expect before the birth of a new God. 287 Sommonokhodom is the last God of the Siamese 289 Fables which the Talapoins relate of their God. ibid. Thevathat Sommonokhodoms younger Brother makes War against him 290 Sommonokhodom assisted by the Female tutelary Angel of the Earth triumphs over his Enemies 291 The Foppery which the Talapoins tell of Sommonokhodom ibid. Thevathat killed his Brother Sommonokhodom when they were Apes 292 Thevathat makes a Schism and declares himself against his Brother 293 Thevathat conspiring to be God is with his Followers deprived of many knowledges ibid. The Talapoins perswade the Siamese that the Christian Religion is taken out of the Law which Sommonokhodom taught them 295 Thevathat is punished in Hell for having persecuted his Brother ibid. The Talapoins take the Siamese off from turning Christians by perswading them that Jesus Christ is Thevathat the Brother of their God. 296 Wherein consists the Annihilation of the Siamese God 297 The Siamese with great reverence preserve the hair and picture of their God. 298 False Oracles whereby the Siamese Authorise their Religion 299 The Law of the Siamese contains ten very severe Precepts 302 FINIS La Baye du Cap DE BONNE ESPERANCE Le Fort des Hollandois au Cap de Bonne Esperance Zembras ou Anes Sauvags du Cap. Carte des Pays en des Pâ—uples du CAP de Bonne Esperance Nouvell◠〈…〉 Hottentots habitans du Cap de Bonne Esperance Namaqua Peuples Nouvellem decouverts vers le Tropiq du Capricorne Rhinoceros Cerf du Cap. â—vache Marine Cerafte ou Serpent Cormâ— Cameleon du Cap de Bonne Esperanâ—e Petiâ— Lezard 〈◊〉 Cap de Bonne Esperance GRAND LEZARD DU CAP. LA RADE DE BANTAN LE PORT DE BATAVIA Batavia Cabinet de' Feuillage ou les Chinois font les Festin des Morts VEUE DE SIAM Balon du Roy a 76. Rameurs Ballon du Roy á 〈◊〉 Rameurs Ballon des Gentils Hommes Balon de Prince Mr. L Ambassadeur 〈◊〉 A. Constance en 〈◊〉 Semblable Elephan◠〈◊〉 avec sa Chaise pour la Princesse Reyne Elephant avec sa Chaise pous les Etrangerâ— le Roy monte sur son Elephant Palais de louvo d'ou le Roy de Siam Obserue l'Eclypse de Surie PAGODE DE SIAM Mandarin qui parle a vn de ses gens Ginseng Arequi Betel Talapoin allant par la Ville
into which his Parents had reduced the Affairs of his Family The thought of that made him take a Resolution that could hardly be expected from a Child of his years Not being able to support his quality in his own Countrey he went on Board with an English Captain who was returning into England His wit and sprightliness his compliant humour and agreeable Carriage quickly made him be known and gained him the kindness of some of the Lords of Court but despairing of success there he went to Sea with a design to go to the Indies His purpose was to raise his Fortune his Genius put him in the way of it and if his probity had been less he might in a short time have got a considerable Estate But he chose rather to pass through all the degrees of Seafaring and to rise by little and little with Reputation than to hasten to be Rich all of a sudden by sneaking and unlawful ways Having lived some years at Siam and scraped together a little Estate He resolved to quit the Service of the English East-India-Company to get a Ship of his own and to Trade by himself He had much ado to get out of Siam being detained by his Friends and by his effects which he could not as yet get in At length he put out but was beaten back again by bad weather and was cast away twice in the mouth of the River Putting out again to Sea once more he was Shipwracked a third time and much more unfortunately upon the Coast of Malabar he was in danger of having perished there and could not save of all he had above two thousand Crowns In this sad condition being oppressed with sorrow weariness and sleep he had laid himself down upon the Shore when whether he was asleep or awake for he hath protested to me oftner than once he could not tell himself he thought he saw a Person full of Majesty who looking upon him with a smiling eye most mildly said unto him Return Return from whence you came These words so wrought upon him that it was impossible for him to sleep all the rest of the night and his thoughts were wholly taken up about finding a way to return to Siam Next day whilst he walked by the Sea side musing upon what he had seen in the night time and uncertain what to think of it he saw a Man coming towards him dropping wet with a sad and dejected countenance It was an Ambassador of the King of Siam who upon his return from Persia had been cast away without saving any thing but his life Since both of them spoke Siamese they soon acquainted one another with their adventures The Ambassador discovered himself and told what extreme necessity he was reduced to The Lord Constance condoling his misfortune offered to carry him back to Siam and with the two thousand Crowns that he had saved after his Shipwreck he bought a small Barque cloaths for himself and the Ambassador and Victuals for their Passage This so obliging a Conduct charmed the Ambassador of Siam who from that time forward cast about every way how he might testifie to him his gratitude When they arrived at Siam and that the Ambassador had given account of his Negotiation and Shipwreck to Barcalon who is the first Minister of State in the Kingdom he told him all the good Offices which he had received from Monsieur Constance with so great applause to his merit that the Minister had a mind to know him He entertained him in discourse liked him and resolved to keep him about him where he soon gained the esteem and confidence of his Master This Barcalon was a witty Man and well versed in business but he avoided trouble as much as he could and loved his pleasures It ravished him that he had found an able faithful and industrious Person on whom he might repose the cares of his place Nay he often spoke of him to the King but that which contributed most to beget a good Opinion of him in the mind of that Prince was the occasion that I am about to relate The King of Siam had a design to send an Ambassador into a Foreign Kingdom and seeing he loves Magnificence and Grandeur he was willing to spare no cost that he might render it famous by rich and splend d Presents The Mores to whom he usually addressed himself on such occasions demanded of him prâ—digious sums of Money to set out that Embassie in the manner he desired it should be The Barcalon to whom the King complained of it â—old it to the Lord Constance who promised 〈◊〉 thâ—â—r the King would honour him with that Commission he would make much finer Pâ—sâ—â—â—s and at less Charges than what the King 〈◊〉 the Mores The King being informed of 〈…〉 him and charged him with his 〈◊〉 Hâ— obeyed them with so much exactness and 〈…〉 that from that time his Majesty 〈…〉 esteem of his ability The Mor s in the 〈◊〉 time taking it ill that they had noâ— th◠〈◊〉 which they demanded given them 〈…〉 Petition to the King praying hi◠〈…〉 thâ—â— payment of the Money which his 〈…〉 them In that Petition they had giâ—â—◠〈◊〉 â—â—rticular account of what they had receivâ—◠〈◊〉 what they had laid out So that according to their account he stood indebted to them in a great summ which as they said they wanted The King would hereupon know the opinion of the Lord Constance and put the memoirs of the Mores into his hand so soon as he had examined it he told the King that he was cheated and that his Majesty was so far from owing them any thing that they stood indebted to him in threescore thousand Crowns The Morish Captain was fain to acknowledge it before the Commissioners whom the King deputed to enquire into the business that they had been mistaken in their accounts The Barcalon dying not long after the King would needs put Monsieur Constance in his place He declined it and made answer to his Majesty that that post would raise him the envy of all the great Men that he most humbly besought him not to raise him higher than he was for that was all his Ambition being happy enough in that he stood fair in his Favours His modesty his skill in affairs and diligence in dispatching them his Fidelity in managing the publick Revenue and his disinterestedness in refusing both the appointments of his Office and all presents from private people have more and more encreased the Kings confidence in him At present every thing passes through his hands and there is nothing done without him However his greatness hath not at all changed him he is easie to be spoken with mild and affable to all People always ready to listen to the poor and to do justice to the meanest of the Kingdom He is the refuge of the wretched and afflicted but the great Men and Officers who do not do their Duty think him severe and morose Seeing he left his own
Countrey when he was young and by consequence but little instructed in the Catholic Religion wherein he was bred it was no hard matter for the English to make him embrace the Protestant Religion which seemed to him to differ little from his own But having had since some Conferences with Father Thomas and Father Maldonat of our Company for whom he still retains a kind Friendship and being convinced in his own Judgment of the bad way he had been put into after full instruction he left it and abjured his Heresie to Father Thomas Since that time he hath led a very regular and edifying Life and by his Example and Credit contributes much to the establishment of the Catholic Faith as will appear by the Sequel of this History So soon as the King of Siam was informed by his Minister of the Honour the King of France did him by the splendid Embassy he sent to him and was told that the Ambassador was arrived at the Mouth of the River he was over-joyed and publickly expressed it to all his Court. He called his Council and ordered upon pain of his-Displeasure that care should be immediatly taken to receive the Ambassador well that they should shew him all the Honour that he who represented the person of a great Prince deserved and that they should not stand upon the Ceremonies and Customs that were observed in the reception of other Ambassadors At the same time he named two of the chief Lords of his Court the one first Gentleman of his Bed-Ch amber and the other chief Captain of his Guards to go as far as the Bar to congratulate late in 〈…〉 his happy Arrival and to tell him that 〈…〉 â—xpected the Day of his Audience aâ—◠〈…〉 hours after the Lord Constance 〈◊〉 one of his â—â—â—retâ—ries to complement his Excellence and 〈…〉 him with all sorts of Refreshments 〈…〉 Retinue and both his Ships Compâ—â—â—eâ— Thâ— Governor of Bancok had alrâ—â—dy 〈…〉 like before so that in a trice we had 〈…〉 Since it was his Majesti◠〈…〉 That the Ambassador should 〈…〉 Reception the Lord 〈…〉 on his part also to do him the 〈…〉 â—ody before him had ever received 〈…〉 only that he might perform his Master 〈…〉 but also that he might testifie the profâ—â—nd â—â—spect which he had always entertained for 〈◊〉 King of France He went in person to the Town oâ— Siam to pitch upon the Lodgings where my Lord Ambassador was to be accommodated and by his Orders diverse Appartments were built hard by for lodging his Gentlemen and all his Retinue He caused the Balons of State to be made ready which were to bring the Ambassador and those which were to follow him because in the Month of September as it was then the River of Siam is much out and all the Countrey about overflow'd He gave Orders that at every five Leagues distance neat Houses should be forthwith built on the River side and very sumptuously furnished and that as far as Tabangue an hours journey from Siam where my Lord Ambassador was to stay till all things were ready for his Reception In the mean time the Bishop of Metellopolis Vicar Apostolic of a great part of the Indies came on board and the Abbot of Lyonne with him They were received with all the Marks of Esteem and Respect that were due to the Dignity of the one and the Quality of the other The Ambassador and Bishop after Mass shut up themselves together and had a long Conference upon the Subject of the Embassie Though we had had the Honour to kiss the Bishop's Hands when he came on board yet our Father Superior judged it convenient that we should again all six together go and pay our most humble Respects to him This Prelate who is a person of a very sweet and good Nature received us with all testimonies of Joy and Affection Nay he offered us his Seminary to live in so long as we should be at Siam telling us that the House of the Company was too small to accommodate us all And we rendered him our hearty Thanks for his Goodness At that time the two great Mandarins whom the King of Siam sent to his Excellence came on board of us in a Galley They were introduced into the Ambassador's Cabin that was spred with a Foot-Carpet Being come in they sate down upon the Carpet and then the Elder of the two asked my Lord Ambassador in the Name of the King his Master News of the King of France and of all the Royal Family and congratulated his happy Arrival He added according to the Visions of the Metempsychosis wherewith most of the Orientals are infatuated that he well knew his Excellence had heretofore been employed in great Affairs and that it was above a thousand years since he came to Siam to renew the Friendship of the Kings who at that time governed the two Kingdoms of France and Siam The Ambassador having very civilly answered their Complements added with a Smile that he did not remember he had ever been charged with so important a Negotiation and that this was the first Voyage he had ever made to Siam After a short stay they took leave assuring the Ambassador that the King was impatient to see him and that he had ordered the luckiest day of the Year to be pitched upon for his Reception They were served with Tea and Sweet Meats and one of them who was a very handsom man and of a pleasant aspect drank Wine but the other would not so much as taste it So they went into their Galley again where they wrote down all they had seen and heard in this Congress Towards the Evening our Father Superior would have me go before with Father Visdelou and Father Bouvet to take order about our Affairs There offered a very fair occasion by the return of the Bishop and Abbot of Lyonne who were to part next day and who offered us their Balons The Ambassador commanded the Chevalier de Fourbin and the Chevalier du Fay to wait upon the Bishop and Abbot who went into the Chaloop where we had the honour to accompany them because their Balons were not strong enough to come on board Pretty late in the Evening we got to the mouth of the River at that place it is but a short League over half a League further up it is not a quarter of a League over and a little higher it is not at the broadest place above an hundred and threescore paces or thereabouts over It has a very fair pretty deep Channel The Bar is a Bank of Owze lying in the mouth of it where there is not above thirteen foot water when the Tides are at the highest There is nothing more charming than the sight of that River the Banks on both sides being covered over with Trees always green and beyond them there being nothing but vast Plains reaching out of sight covered with Rice It was Night when we put ashoar at a little Lodging where the Balons
Ally that was at the other end The wild Elephant which had followed them to that place stopping at the entry of the narrow pass all manner of ways were used to make engagement they made the females who were beyond the Alley cry some Siamese provoked him by clapping their hands and crying pat pat others pricked him with long sharp pâ—inted pâ—les and when they were pursued by him 〈…〉 â—ixâ— the Pillars and hid themselves 〈◊〉 thâ— Palâ—adoes which the Elephant could 〈…〉 â—gh at length having pursued 〈…〉 â—en he made at one single Man 〈…〉 of Fury The Man ru◠〈…〉 Elephant after him But 〈…〉 was taken for the Man having 〈…〉 let fall purposely too P◠〈…〉 other behind the Elephant 〈…〉 of his power to go forwards 〈…〉 himself he strugled prodigi◠〈…〉 â—errible cries They endeavoured 〈…〉 â—im bâ— throwing buckets full of wa◠〈…〉 Body rubbing him with leaves p◠〈…〉 upon hâ—s Ears and they brought 〈◊〉 â—phants both Males and Females to hi◠〈◊〉 caressed him with their Truncks In 〈…〉 time they â—stened Ropes under his b◠〈◊〉 to his hind-seen that so they might pull 〈◊〉 out from thence and they persisted in thrâ— water upon his Trunk and Body to câ— At length they brought to him one of â—se tame Elephants that are accustomed to inâ—ruct the new-comers An Officer was mounted upon him who made him go forwards and backwards to shew the wild Elephant that there was no danger and that he might come out So at length they opened the gate to him and he followed the other to the end of the Alley So soon as he was there they fastned an Elephant to each side of him another went before and pulled him by a rope into the way that they would have him take whilst a fourth made him go forwards by thumping him with his head behind until he came to a kind of manage where they tyed him to a great Pillar made for that purpose which turns like the Capstern of a Ship. They left him there till next day that he might spend his anger but whilst he tormented himself about that Pillar a Bramen that is to say one of the Indian Priests who are numerous in Siam cloathed in white and mounted on another Elephant drew nigh and turning gently about this which was tied sprinkled him with a certain water consecrated after their manner which he carried in a Vessel of Gold. They believe that that Ceremony makes the Elephant loose his natural fierceness and fits him for to serve the King. The day following he begins to go with the rest and in a fortnights time is fully tamed Amidst all those diversions the Ambassador was wholly taken up about the Subject of his Embassie which was the Conversion of the King but perceiving that he had no solid nor positive answer as to that he resolved to draw up a short memoir which he intended should be presented to the King by the Lord Constance He spoke of it to that Minister who in a long conference they had together disswaded him from pressing the King upon that point but the Ambassador very prudently still persisted in his opinion and prayed the Lord Constance to present that writing to his Majesty wherein he besought him to give him a positive answer that might be acceptable to the King his Master The Lord Constance having received the Memoir from the Ambassador went to the Palace in the Evening and there prostrating himself at the Kings feet made him a discourse full of that Asiatic Eloquence that was so much esteemed in ancient Greece Here you have a true translation of the very words he used SIR THE Ambassador of France hath put into my hands a Memoir which contains certain propositions whereof he is to give an account to the King his Master but before I read it to your Majesty The Harangue of the Lord Constance to the King of Siam suffer me Sir if you please to lay before you the principal motive that engaged the most Christian King to send you so solemn an Embassie That so wise a Prince your good Friend Sir knowing the greatness of your Soul and the generosity of your Majesties Royal heart by the Ambassadors and Magnificent Presents which you designed for him without other interest than that of desiâ—ng the Royal Vnity of a Prince so Glorious and so Renowned over the World and then perceiving that your Majesties Ministers had sent to the Ministers of his Kingdom two Mandarins with considerable Presents to congratulate the birth of the Grand-son of their great King worthy of a perpetual Pâ—sterity which maâ— eternally represent to France the Image of his admirable Virtues and secure the happiness of his People That great Monarch Sir being surprised by so disinterested a procedure resolved to answer thâ—se obliging cares and to do so devised a means worthy of himself and suitable to the dignity of your Majesty for to present you with Riches it is in your Kingdom Sir that Strangers come in search of Wealth To offer you his Forces He knew very well that your Majesty is dreaded by all your Neighbours and in a condition to punish them if they should offer to break the Peace which by their prayers they have obtained from you Could he have thought of bestowing Lands and Provinces upon the Sovereign of so many Kings and the Master of so great a number of Kingdoms as make almost the fourth part of Asia Neither could it enter into his thoughts to send hither his Subjects only upon the account of Trade because that would be a common Interest to his People and your Majesties Subjects So that it would have been hard for him to have hit upon the right course had he not reflected that he might offer to your Majesty somewhat infinitely more considerable and which was congruous to the Dignity of two so great Kings Having considered what it was that had raised him to that high pitch of Glory where at present he is seated what had made him take so many Towns subdue so many Provinces and gain so many Victories what to this present had made the happiness of his people and what had brought him from the extremities of the Earth so many Ambassadors of Kings and Princes who Court his Friendship what in fine had obliged your Majesty to prevent this incomparable Prince by so splendid an Embassie which you sent to him Having I say attentively considered all these great things that King so wise and prespicatious found that the God whom he adores was the sâ—le Author of them that his Divine Providence had so disposed them for him and that he owed them to the intercession of the holy Mother of the Saviour of the World under whose Protection he hath consecrated his Person and Kingdom to the true God. That 〈◊〉 and the extream desire he hath to communicate to your Majesty all thâ—se great advantages hath made him resolve to propose to you Sir the same means that have procured