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    that 256 THE .LEADER. [^giJg^A^KDAT,

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    SIR JOHN BOWHING IN SIAM. The Kingdom an...

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    To The Amount Of Reflection Contained In...

    Death to him ; and how the new morning "was a Resurrection to him : —nay , more , how the sun , and the moon , and the stars were his personal friends , as well as his deities ; how he held communion with them , and thought that they regarded every act and word ; how ; in his solitude , he fondly imagined that they sympathized with him ; and how , -with outstretched arms , he appealed to them against their own unkindness , or against the injustice of his fellow-man . The great chief , nearly allied to the throne , and longing for high employment , went out from the presence of his sovereign , elated or confounded by a look , and told his joy or his grief to the listening god of Day ; or , perhaps , -with an aching feeling of envy at his heart , confided to the Sun his anxious misgivings about the rise at Court of a brother Orejon , " a mean man , given to terrestrial things , who loves you not , " he said , addressing the luminary , " as I do . " The sensitive Amauta , vexed at the more skilful flattery ( more skilful , perhaps , because less delicate and true ) just recited at ' Court by another Amauta , the reig ; ning Inca sitting by , deplored , in wailing accents to the Sun , the want of refinement among princes , even his descendants ;

    and prayed for a larger measure of the right kind of inspiration which should suit the present age . The Peruvian lover left the overpowering presence of his mistress ( as lovers 5 n all countries and all ages have done , and will do ) , only to think more freely over the transcendent merits of the loved maiden , and to weary the Moon with idle repetitions of great praise and joy . Our inspirations , more fervid when we are within four walls , our nicely-weighed addresses to the heavenly bodies , uttered with musing , downcast eyes , were unknown to th « Peruvians , who in the open air spoke boldly up to the living creatures , for so they deemed them } of their poetic idolatry . The astrologer , perhaps , was the only Peruvian who scanned the heavens in a cold and business-like manner , and wished that he could see his way more clearly in deriving knowledge from those wandering ligb-ts : while the Sacred Virgin , when the hot Sun poured down upon her cloistered retreat , regarded him with the rapt enthusiasm of religious love , scorning , for a moment , the pale , terrestrial joys , but yet so dear , of other girls , and with a sad , stifling feeling at the heart , trampled down , as best she might , the inextinguishable motherhood that dwells in every woman ' s breast . "

    As for sacrifices , what is there which a Peruvian would not have given to these great and glorious personages in the upper air , —his flocks and herds , his slaves , his captives , the choicest works of his hand , and even his own life ? Once penetrated , if only for a moment , by a sense of the utter abandonment to adoration that existed in the souls of these Peruvians , we may bring before ourselves the depth of meaning which was expressed in any of their great rites , celebrated upon spots which the Sun seemed , indeed , to have chosen for his own , where around , for unnumbered leagues , he shot his burning rays , through unimpeding atmosphere , upon the tawny earth ; where the calm , level sea , the boundless desert , and the clear mountain , with its sharp shadows , formed a fitting amphitheatre for his majesty ; and where the Moon , his sister or his spouse , seldom appeared , except with a full Court , surrounded by innumerable lesser lights , waiting to do her honour .

    But we must cease quoting , and refer the reader to the work itself , as not only the most erudite , but the most entertaining book yet written on Spanish America .

    That 256 The .Leader. [^Gijg^A^Kdat,

    that 256 THE . LEADER . [^ giJg ^ A ^ KDAT ,

    Sir John Bowhing In Siam. The Kingdom An...

    SIR JOHN BOWHING IN SIAM . The Kingdom and People of Siam ; with a Narrative of the Mission to that Country in 1855 . By Sir John Bowring , F . R . S . 2 vols . J . W . Parker-Sib JohnvBowbing , author of the general election of 1857 , is not a proficient compiler . These are two disjointed , irregular , verbose volumes ^ containing an amplitude of information , old and new , which should have been much more compactly put together . Only a small proportion of the work is original , the rest being derived from Pallegoix , La Loubere , Moore , and a number of preceding -writers of more or less authority . Sir John Bowring seems to have aimed at bringing together all that is known of Siam ; but this object he has not attained , while he repudiates the pleasant attributes of a personal narrator . Towards the close of the book , it is true , the mission of 1855 is described , but only as a sequel to others ,

    including Mr , Crawfurd ' s failure , and the effort of Sir James Brooke , which undoubtedly led the way to the establishment of the relations actually in existence between the Siamese kingdom and Great Britain . We say Sir John Bowring has not succeeded in producing a complete account of Siam , and that , aa a traveller , he has sunk his individuality ; but this does not imply that his work is altogether unsatisfactory . On the contrary , it throws together large masses of excellent material—it lays open the interior life of a little known state—ifc collects the anecdotes and traditions of a remarkable dynasty—it is replete with interesting facts bearing on the trade , the religion , and the manners of the more distant regions of Asia . We object to it simply that it is awkward in form , that it is too superficial for

    an encyclopedia , and too voluminous for a manual , and that Sir John Kowring has inundated his actual experiences with an enormous superfluity of bookmaklng . Littl © is known of Siam , the Siao of Camoens , in spite of this large book about it . We know neither why it is called Siam , nor what arc its boundaries ; a broad debatable land lies between it and Malaya and Buvmah on one eido , and the mysterious countries of Cambodia and Cochin China on the other . Sir John Bowring gives it a length of nearly twelve hundred miles , and a maximum breadth of throe hundred and fifty ; but these ngures are doubtful . Borgman estimates its area at two hundred and ninety thousand equate miles . Crawfurd deducts a hundred thousand from this calculation ; both , probably , made their reckonings in the dark . Tlio * in not dobne

    p mmneu comu his own territories . He owns allegiance to , * V clai ! sovereignty o ^ rer Cambodia ; but Cochin China disputes hia sovereignty , and Cambodia paya tribute to both . The mountains winch divulo the two countries are scarcely known to geography ; hSLrS P ? r ™ , tO mm - * lfy fr <> m tho Himalaya , which scn ^ ls another nm ^ r IT . ° M * l * y peninsula , the two diverging ranges enclosing Siam SlvS throughout its whale extent by tho Mefnan ,, which perio-Srillr u " * T- , ^ - itS 8 Ws treasure of virgin aoif from forest and nLl lfl . ^ T ^ S * * b river pours down from a wilderness of EiriS ?; . !" , > S fnr £° Certain thRt Kempher was wrong wh < m he snnniaod that it connects Siam by a navigable route with Bengal " neck oTZTn' ^ K ^ ' * r ** iin « d , may to opened across neck of the pcn , n » ula by means of a . ahip cnnal . Sir John Bowrin * says

    , if the information he received be correct , a cutting only a few mil ™ hi length would be required . Before he saw Siam , similar informatiou had been published . u < 111 Far up the Meinam are the remains of the ancient capital , Ayuthia fnr naerly among the most splendid cities of : the East , and known to ' w existed since the fourteenth century ; its pagodas and pyramids colossal statues and fragmentary walls , attest its ancient magnificence . Above this place the population decreases ; the villages become less frequent , crocodiles multiply , the roar of the elephant is louder , until the ruins of Phit Salok another deserted capital , are reached . Beyond lie forests and iunoles swarming with wild beasts , and intersected by sluggish streams . When " ana fay what race this vast territory was originally populated it is im possible to say ; the native annalists , of course , are prepared with a dynastic pedigree reaching to the clouds , but among their elephants , heroesand devils ? t is

    , easy to be bewildered . A great deal of murder , and still more imbecility is mixed up with their narrations . The reigning king traces hims elf modestly to a modern source ; but whence does he derive the name and style that drag their slow length along in the dedication , Phra Bard Som detch Phra Paramendr Maha Mongkut Phra Chom Klau Chan YuHua ? This gentleman reads and writes English , and will appreciate , it is to be hoped , Sir John Bowring's resonant flattery . . We may set aside the question of population . All the tables are mere guesses—Pallegoix ' s six millions , Sir John Bowring's four millions , La Loubfere ' s nine millions , in which La Loubere did not believe . Whatever the numbers are , they are composed of Thai , a large and semi-migratory population of Chinese nationality , of Laos , of Cambodians , of Peguans , Malays , andmiscellaneous mountaineers . Of these the Laos alone are

    interesting . They are a curious people , scattered over the great valley of the interior ; their music is the sweetest in Eastern Asia ; they play on singularly harmonious instruments—organs of bamboo , bound with ebony—and dance in delicate measures holding garlands of flowers . They are meek , elegant , romantic , and sing only pathetic or amorous songs . Their women- wear graceful ctfstum . es , and decorate their hair with white blossoms . The great nobles of Siam always send for wives to the country of the Laos . With respect to marriage , the treatment of children , household life , slaves , food , utensils , costumes , social ceremonies , and political institutions , we refer to Sir John Bowring ' s volumes , which abound in details , largely derived from Pallegoix , who represents the Siamese as a particularly servile people ,

    accustomed to crouch and cringe before their superiors . Of course the white elephant and Siamese Buddhism , occupy prominent chapters , effectively illustrated . The Laos are Buddhists , but their creed includes a variety of superfluous dedications to demons , generally malignant . The Laos capital is situated on a wide plain , at the foot of a mountain far up the interior ; escaped criminals take refuge there . The women are said to exercise more power than the men , but both sexes , after the harvest has been gathered in , enjoy a period of extravagant indolence . In Cambodia public and private manners are considerably more ostentatious . Like many Eastern sovereigns the king delights in having a female body-guard . A writer quoted by Sir John Bowring saw a bevy at the palace .

    They all appeared to be veTy young , and were doubtless the best-looking girla we had seen in the country . Many of them had soft and regular features , and were it not for the disgusting habit of blackening the teeth and shaving the head , only leaving the short tuft of hair I have mentioned before , might really be called pretty , a 3 all had most elegant figures , with those gracefully-curved , flowing outlines , and plump development sculptors love so well to delineate , as forming the chief grace of feminine beauty . These odalisques were very thinty 1 " clad , wearing salendangs , and a long silk scarf thrown loosely over one shoulder and across the body : this piece of dress seemed to be used more as an ornament than as a necessary covering , for it was often allowed to slip off the shoulder , and had to be every now and then readjusted .

    After a long digression relating to the previous intercourse of European powers with Siam , Sir John Bowring describes the incidents of his own mission . He arrived in March , 1855 . The king at once sent him a courteous letter in an ornamental vase of gold , with a variety of presents . Two days afterwards the prime minister came off , and great colloquies arose as to the style in which his Majesty should receive the British envoy plenipotentiary , Mr . Parkes " very properly" insisted that the same ceremonial should be observed as that which greeted the ambassador of Louis XIV . The Siamese declared they had no records , but offered to treat Six * John as though he were a diplomatic Bunnese , or Cochin Chinaman . That was unsatisfactory ; ultimately , tho Louis-Quatorze reception was granted ; the procession of gilded boats resembled the pictures in La Loubiire ' s book , and the p lenipotentiary was well content . He seems to have conducted the mission in a disguised yet conciliatory manner , and the Siamese appear to have been equally decorous and friendly . Everything , in fact , augured well for the intercourse of the two nations ; Siam already wore a partially English costume : —

    When I reached tho landing-place , tho chair , with a bearer of a huge umbrella , conveyed me within tho palace courts , through hundreds of torch-bearers , the soldiers placed at different spots " presenting arms" to the order given in English . On reaching the reception place , tho King came forward . Two little children of the King wore playing on a crimson and gold carpet , who screamed at my approach , and wore taken away . They seemed to wear nothing except wide-brimmed hats , which covered thoir heads . He took me to bis private apartments , ornamented with beautiful pendules and -watches , statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert , handsome barometers , thermometers , & c . He then led me through two or three small chambers , where wero liuo specimens of Chinese porcelain services , and other costly decorations .

    Almost everything soomed English . There were many now books on the shelves . Tho King spoke of tho history of Siam , and said it was rather obscure and fabulous , but that tho more veracious portion wont back about five hundred years ; that the Siamese alphabet lmd been introduced about that time . Inscribed on tho apartments to which Ms Majesty had conducted mo , wero the words " Royal Pleasure " in English , and in Sanscrit characters with the same meaning . Sir John Bowring ' s notes taken during his stay at the capital , are highly interesting ; his opinions arc stated moderately , and generally with clearness . Ilawcver , tho several superfluities we have remarked upon , by encumbering the book , and enlarging it unnecessarily , detract from its or '( - ginftlity , and are serious incgnYCmences to tb , e reader .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 14, 1857, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14031857/page/16/