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HISTORICAL SKETCH ^ififfm^^,, 
 
 * NOV 19 1910 -^ 
 
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 DNOEU TUB CAKE OF THR 
 
 BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS ^F THE 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 By rev.. J. ¥.. DRIPP.S. 
 
 PUBLISHED BV TlIK 
 
 WOMAN'S FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE 
 • PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 No. 1334 Cnii;;JTNUT Stukkt, I'hilahki.I'Hia. 
 
 18S1. 
 
■■■iiir"^ 
 
MISSIONS IN SIAM. 
 
 ! ■ China on the extreme oast, and India on the south — each has 
 
 its definite place in our mind; but we cannot always .say as much 
 * for the tract of land which lies between them, in the southeast cor- 
 ner of Asia, and known eumetimis as Farther India or Indo-China. 
 Siam occupies the central and larger portion of this corner-land, 
 with Burmah on its west and Cochin China on the east, including 
 ■also most of the long, narrow Malayan peniusuhi wliieh juts out 
 , from the mainland and forms the sharply-defined curuer of the 
 
 continent. Beginning at the lower end of this peninsular portion, 
 ; within five degrees of the equator, the Siamese territory extends 
 
 1350 miles to the north, and measures at its widest point some 
 450 miles from east to west. It contains 190,000 scjuare miles, or 
 about as much as New England with the four middle states. 
 
 Most of the country is a low-lying plain, completely overfiowed 
 
 i every year by its four great rivers. Journeying northward along 
 
 » the chief river, this plain ia found to continue fur some four huu- 
 
 j dred miles, when great mountains close in upon the stream, and 
 
 . the traveller encounters more than forty very difficult ra|)ids in the 
 
 1 midst of singularly-impressive scenery ; after which the country 
 
 ; opens again into another wide plain, very much like the lormer 
 
 one, and known as that of the Laos people. The annual overilow 
 
 of the rivers, with the abundant rainiall, enables the production of 
 
 } such crops as rice and sugar in great abundance. It is claiiued to 
 
 be the gaideu-land of the world — the land of fruit and fiowers and 
 
 of never-ending summer, with grand old trees overshadowing every 
 
 ; hamlet, and plant-lile iu fullest variety bursting on every side from 
 
 , the i'ertile soil. 
 
 It is also the land of elephants, the king having five tliousaud 
 ^ of them in his service fur war purposes alone. One variety is 
 
 that which is knowji to us as the " white " elephant, though the 
 ; Siamese name for it is " the strange-colored," and it is really a 
 
 whitish brown. Its foi-m is used on the Siamese flags as the na- 
 tional symbol, and it is held in great honor, though nut actually 
 worshipped. There is great abundance of fish, as also of insects 
 and, indeed, of every form of tropical life. 
 I The climate of the whole country is genial and not unfavorable 
 
 to health, though Europeans need to exchange it at intervals llu* 
 
 *ma»i >i.*ii— ■ ■ III !■ 
 
4 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 something more bracing, and the natives suffer considerably Iroui 
 malarial diseases. The thermometer varies from 04° to 99°, aver- 
 aging 81°. There is a dry seaaon from November to May, and a 
 wet season for the other half of the year. 
 
 The population is but partly Siamese, nearly one-half being 
 made up of the tributary races and of Chinese immigrants. There 
 are perhaps five or six millions in all, though no exact statement 
 has ever been given on this point. In any case, however, it is not 
 a quarter of the number which the land could easily support, and 
 the paucity is ascribed to such causes us war and disease, polyg- 
 amy, and the celibacy of the priesthood. By descent the peoplo 
 are of the same family with the Chinese, having also several 
 features of likeness to the natives of India. The name by which 
 we call them is supposed to come from the Sanscrit word " s^am," 
 meaning "the brown," though they call themselves by a term sig- 
 nifying " the free." They are a gentle, passive, rather weak race, 
 given to dissimulation, and very conceited ; but they are reverential 
 to the aged, especially to parents, are kind to their children, liberal 
 in alms giving, orderly and peaceable. They have quick, though 
 not very strong, minds, ahd are said to be mure receptive than the 
 Chinese. These traita are common to all the native races, though 
 the Laos have a somewhat stronger character, with many interest- 
 ing traits peculiar to itself The universal inertness, due to 
 tlio enervating climate, is confiijued by the fact that food is 
 80 excessively cheap, and that small exertion is requinsd for satis- 
 fying the need of clothing, a waist-cluth having usually been all 
 that was held necessary, with sometimes a light cape over the 
 shoulders. A large pruportion of the people have continued to 
 live in a state which is nominally that of slavery, though it is of a 
 mild type, and terminable at any time by the payment of a fixed 
 Bum. It is now in process of being entirely abolished, by order of 
 the king. Women are not held iu restriction, but go about the 
 streets at will, and transact business freely. They are, however, 
 considered to be of so inferior a nature that they are not educated 
 at all, whereas most of the men and boys can read and write. 
 Polygamy is usual among those wlio can aflbrd it, and divorce is 
 easy in all classcfj, though there are many happy marriages. 
 
 The government is an absolute monarchy, entrusting all power 
 of every kind to the king. The "second king" has no share iu 
 the administration, nor have the nobles, although when the king 
 dies it is the a.ssembly of nobles which chooses his successor, either 
 from among his sons or, if they prefer, from some other family. 
 
 The history of the country presents very little of importance or 
 interest until the advent of Chri.^tian missionaries; since which 
 time many features of western civilization have been adopted by 
 
 ^iit&iiliii 
 
TUE MISBI0N6 iN SIAAI. 5 
 
 order of the present king and of his predecessor. Id fact, the 
 change made in this direction has nothing to equal it, except in 
 the case of Japan. 
 
 Foreign commerce, with the encouragement which it is now 
 heginning to receive, is capable of imu)en8e expansion, bo abundant 
 are the natural resources'of every kind, and so readily accessible. 
 This feature of accessibility is e.ipecially marked. Not only can 
 the great rivers be readily made available, but the net-work of 
 canals which interlaces the country between them. This gives it« 
 peculiar character to Bangkok, the capital, which has much the 
 same importance for Siam as London for England. This city, of 
 four hundred thousand inhabitants, situated not far from the sea, 
 has the chief river of the laud for its main avenue and canals for 
 lesser ones. When the native houses are nut built on piles driven 
 into the banks, they are often floated on platforms in the river 
 itself, whoso sides are thus lined for several miles. The whole 
 city and, indeed, all lower Siam can be reached by boat — a fact 
 most important for commerce, as it is also for missionary work. 
 
 I^UDDUISM. • 
 
 Considered as a field for Christian missions, the most noticeable 
 fact in regard to Siam is that it constitutes the very citadel of 
 Buddhism — the land which, more than any other, is entirely and 
 only Buddhist. In China, a Buddhist is also a Coiifucianist and a 
 Taoist; even his Buddhism itself being far less pure than in Siam. 
 This system attracts the more attention because within the present 
 generation it has beeume distinctly known by us for the tirst time. 
 The result is that while many still regard it as a mere tissue of 
 palpable absurdities, some of our writers are claiming for it a place 
 by the side of Christianity itself, and ou a level with it. 
 
 The truth lies of course between such extremes. Buddhists 
 need Christianity as deeply as any men on earth; yet their own 
 system, with its strange mixture of good and uvil, has a power 
 whieh is real and formidable. It is six hundred years older than 
 Christianity, having originated about the time of the Jewish 
 prophet Daniel, in an age which also witnessed the teaching of 
 Confucius among the Chinese, and of Pythagoras among the 
 Greeks; a time which was one of mental (juickening and enlarge- 
 ment of thought over all the earth. Its iounder himself was 
 conitnouly known by his family name Gautama, and by the title 
 of ''The Buddha"— that is, "The Enlightened One." He has 
 left an impression, by his personal character and teachings, rarely 
 equalled among men. In Siam, for example, there has been ibr 
 twelve hundred years no other religion than his; one whieh is ven- 
 erated beyond expression, and interwoven with every act and occu- 
 
 *lk!tW titH 
 
M' miSTUaiQAIi SiEXOU OF 
 
 p^t^iou of lite. . It has showa much ot mtiillectual subtlety, ana 
 eveu of moral truth, uiiugled with uU ita absurdities and vices'; aud 
 has provea^ itself singularly adapted to tho pcuple with whom it 
 deals. Ita influence is nut only long-continued and deep, but very 
 l;)road. It hua greatly modified the other religiuna of India, though 
 seven centuries ago it wad finally driven from its place among them; 
 while in China the whole population is enrolled among its adherents. 
 One-half of mankind bear its impressions ; one-third of them are 
 its active supporters. It would be by all means the leading relig- 
 ion on earth if mere numbers could make it such. 
 
 Yet, in the real sense of tho word, it is no religion at all, for it 
 teaches no God above and no soul within us. Most of its ibllow- 
 ers have in their language no word whatever for that which we call 
 '^ God," in the sense of a divine Iluler, Creator, Preserver of men, 
 and the very idea of such a being does not exist in Buddhism. 
 The Buddha himself was not a god, but a man; and though he 
 speaks of beings who aro called gods, yet they are described as 
 mere mortals like ourselves, having no power over us, nor eveu any 
 essential superiority to us. Each man must work out his own des- 
 tiny for himself, with no aid from any higher power, in the spirit 
 of atheistic rationalism. 
 
 Buddhism, as such, has therefore no such thing as prayer or 
 religious worship in any form. The nearest approach to this is iu 
 the form of inward uieditation, or of paying outward honors to the 
 memory of Gautama by carrying flowers to his monument. When 
 Buddhists wish to find any outlet for the religious instinct they 
 must go outside of Buddhism to seek it. This is actually the case 
 with nearly all of them. They crave some object of worship, and 
 since Gautama has given them none, they addict themselves to some 
 form of devil-worship or witchcraft by way of addition to his system. 
 This single fact is sufficient commentary upon the fatal defective- 
 ness of his teachings. They do also say prayers, which aro in some 
 cases the real cry of the soul toward some one or some thing which 
 can help it. Usually, however, the " prayer" which they repeat is 
 not so much in the Ibrm of appeal to any living hearer as in that of 
 a charm or incantation ; the mere repetition of the words being 
 supposed to have magical power iu itself. Hence originated the 
 use of "praying-mills" in Thibet, each turn of the wheel being 
 considered as a repetition of the prayer or magical foi-m which is 
 written upon it. In such ways as this liuddliism has come to re- 
 ceive aa enormous mass of additions, many of which aro directly 
 opposed to its original teachings. A singular fact in this connec- 
 tiou is the outgrowth of an extremely elaborate system of worship 
 in Thibet, though not in Siam, which resembles closely in all its 
 outward forms that of the Church of llonjc. Even iu Siam images 
 
 '^'AiikL. 
 
 uai*-*^»M.iit,iUti^l^MAklkUus^4^iA^muJitM M*~ <»> 
 
X^E iJIi^SifONS IN BUM. 7 
 
 of Budjlha are enormousjy multipUed, tending to practical idolatry. 
 There are said to be fourteen thousand in one teuiplu alone. 
 
 The atheiam of Gautama'a teaching is the more complete 
 because of his declaring, in the most emphatic manner possible, that 
 there is no such thing as suul or spirit in man himself; that a man 
 is only a body with certain faculties added to it, all of which scatter 
 into uothiugnesa when the body dissolves. One feature of Buddh- 
 ism, therefure, is its denial of all spirituality, divine or human. 
 
 A second feature is its assertion, as the positive facts upon which 
 it builds, of two most remarkable ideas. One of these is the doc- 
 trine to which Gautama most frequently refers, and to which his iol- 
 lowers liave given most heed, viz., that of traiismiy ration. Thia 
 belief, strange as it seems to Christians, is held by most of tho 
 human race as aflording the only explanation they can Und for tho 
 perplexing inequalities of earthly experience. It teaches that tho 
 cause of every joy or sorrow is to be found in some conduct of tho 
 man himself, if not in this life, then in some of his previous lives. 
 Such a theory appeals to the couvietion that every event must 
 have a cause, and to the innate sense of justice which demands 
 that every act shall have its merited consequence. It also connects 
 itself with that "strange trick of memory," as it lias been called, 
 which leads occasionally to the sudden sense of our having pro- 
 vioasly met the very scene, having said and done tho very things 
 which are now present with us; and as they say it cannot be dis- 
 proved, its believers are slow to give it up. In fact, as the usual 
 emblem of Christianity is the cross, so that of Buddhism is tho 
 wheel — chosen as such from its suggestion of endless rotation. 
 
 Buddhism, however, which denies the existence of the soul, ia 
 obliged to teach transmigration in a very strange form — a form, 
 indeed, which is not only mysterious, but impossible. According 
 to this, although you go to nothingness when you die, yet a new 
 person is sure to be produced at that moment, who is considered 
 to be practically the same as yourself, because he bt:gins existeuco 
 with all your merits and demerits exactly, and it is to your thirst 
 for life that ho owes his being. Yet, as it is acknowledged that 
 you are not conscious of producing him and he is not conscious of 
 any relation M'ith you, it is hard to see how human brains can 
 accept such a hopeless absurdity as this doctrine of " Karma." 
 Practically, its believers are apt to forget their denial of the soul, 
 and speak as if it does exist and goes at death into a new body. 
 This new birth, moreover, may be not into the form of a man, but 
 into that of a beast of the earth, a devil in some hell or au 
 angel in some heaven. Buddhism not only teaches the existence 
 of hells and heavens, but fixes their exact size and position; so 
 that one glance through the telescope, or any acquaintance with. 
 
 S^ 
 
 ^T^mz 
 
^ y HISTORICAL SKETCU OV 
 
 \ astronomy, is enough to prove the falsity of its declarations on that 
 
 I point. It is further taught that each of these future lives must 
 
 I come to an end, for all things above and below are continually 
 
 [ . changing places with each other, as they ever have done and ever 
 
 I will do. There is therefore no real satisfaction even in the pros- 
 
 t pect of a heavenly life, since it must in time change, probably for 
 
 the worse, while the chief probability points to some new life which 
 is worse, and not better, than the present. 
 
 In close connectiou, then, with this fundamental idea of Buddh- 
 ism, namely transmigration, is the other idea that all life, present 
 or future, is essentially so transitory, disappointing, and miserable, 
 that the greatest of blessings would be the power to cease from the 
 weary round entirely and forever. Practically its votaries have 
 before their minds a life in some delightful heaven, which may bo 
 secured against turning into any following evil by passing instead 
 ' into calm unending slumber. The essential features of this heav- 
 enly condition are its preception of Hfe's illusiveness, with freedom 
 from all resulting lusts and passions; and this ensures that when 
 the life you are then living shall close, no new being will be formed 
 in your place, because your thirst for living is at last extinguished. 
 While it is true, then, that this condition of heavenly calm or Nirvana 
 is represented as eminently attractive, yet its dibtinguishiug benefit 
 lies in the fact that when it ends, that which follows is not a new 
 birth, but an eternal freedom from all life. This is in its essence a 
 doctrine of despair, even though the annihilation of life is called 
 by the softer name of endless slumber, and attention is mainly fixed 
 on the joys of Nirvana which precede that slumber. 
 
 The remaining or third chief feature of Buddhism is its descrip- 
 tion of the "Noble Path" — the way by wliieh a man is to reach 
 this desired goal. Having (1) denied the existence of God and the 
 soul, and (2) asserted the existence of transmigration and of an es- 
 sential misery in all life, from which Nirvana is the only deliverance, 
 it proceeds (3) to toll how Nirvana may be reached. It is by means 
 of persevering meditation upon the hollowness of life, together with 
 the practice of control over self and benevolence to others. Many 
 of the rules given for this end have in them a moral truth and 
 beauty which is exceedingly remarkable. The ojiposition made to 
 caste and to extending religion by force of arms, the freedom given 
 to woman, and the niildness of manners cherished among all, are 
 most commendable. Much of its hold upon men un<loubtedly 
 came from the fact that its moral standard is endorsed to so great 
 an extent by every man's conscience, while its S])irit of self-help 
 and of working out merit by one's own acts would find a responsive 
 chord in most men. Gautama, the Buddha, must have been a 
 noble man, far above the average around hiiu in braiu and heart, 
 
 .iULJjIl'l*— "" M\t\\ --TI ■■ — --^^-■■■- •'"""- '"--"*'"****"*^'**^ 
 
 ^ 
 
THE MI8BION8 IN SIAM. 9 
 
 and not tho loaHt so in his efforts to learn from others before bcgin- 
 uio<^ himself to teach. But his followers of to-day arc by uo means 
 teachable in the presence of Christianity, with its fullness of divine 
 truth J and whenever partial truth resists fuller truth it becomes 
 wrong and hurtful. If Buddhism held faithfully the truth it 
 knew, ever ready to learn further lessons of good, it could be 
 viewed with gladness us a system which had prevented many a 
 worse one, while not hinderiug aught better still; but this latter 
 assertion cannot be made. 
 
 Its claim to be perfect and final is utterly wrong. On the one 
 hand it absolutely iguorea auy thought of luve aud duty to God, or 
 even the mention of His name, and even its benevolence to man 
 arises from the desire of saving self It has no living root, no true 
 foundation. As the main thing is to save one's self from misery, 
 separation from others is a cardinal virtue ; the best form of life is 
 that of the monk, aud his goodness is most complete when he re- 
 fuses even to look at a woman, or to have any share in healing the 
 diseases of others. Such a theory is far remuved from tho benev- 
 olence of our Lord Jesus Christ. It commits also tho natural 
 mistake of Ibrbidding a thing totally when it is only its excess 
 which is evil, as where the man seeking perfeetiun is forbidden to 
 touch money at all or to take auy life, etc. It must be remembered 
 that disobedience to these moral laws is not called "sm," for where 
 no God is recognized uo sin is confessed, and it is merely so much 
 loss to one's self, just as when auy other law of nature is broken. 
 If you choose to take the loss you are always at liberty to break 
 the law. Morality becomes a mere affair of profit and loss; so 
 that we even read of a Buddhist account-book, with its debtor and 
 creditor columns, by which the yearly balance of merits or demerits 
 could readily be ascertained. 
 
 We must beware then of putting Christian meaning into Buddh- 
 ist words, or of supposing that such a description of Buddhism as 
 Arnold's " Light of Asia," with all its poetio and spiritual beauties, 
 could have been written by any man destitute of Christian ideas. 
 Moreover, if there is fault and defect even in the purest possiblo 
 jolni of the system, how much more is there iu the actual teachings 
 of JJuddhist books after twenty-four hundred years of corruption. 
 
 The practical conduct of its followers is below even this faulty 
 staudard; they live as the heathen did whom Paul describes iu the 
 first chapter of his Epistle to the Ilomans. For after all, the great 
 distinction between all other religions and Christianity is not 
 merely that they present lower standards than it, but that they do 
 not present at all that which is its one chief ofier, viz., grace and 
 strength whereby men become able to rise toward their standard. 
 Buddhism makes no such offer as this, and has no conception of 
 
 k.al.a''^^*^"*-'''^'' 
 
10 HlBTOtttOAf^ 8K.i;rCii Of 
 
 sucli a thing. It fixes the mind upon thq evila aod miseries of 
 life, which it is by its own power to ahuu, uqd uot upoa the posi- 
 tive holiness and blessedness of a divine Father and Saviour, whose 
 {jruce can lift the soul toward the glory which it sees. 
 
 Christians freely concede all that can truly bo claimed for the 
 Buddhist standard; for the higher it is, the more does it show 
 natural conscience endorsing the requirements of God as no more 
 than right and just. The defects of Buddhism, both in theory and 
 practice, are evident enough. In all these twenty-four hundred years, 
 and among these myriads of men, it has produced no single nation 
 comparable with even the lowest of Chritstiau states. In fact, the 
 very existeuce of its priesthood, as seen in Siam, is enougli to 
 dwarf the prosperity of any people. The name of "priest" is, 
 indeed, hardly accurate in this case, for the condition intended is 
 rather that of a monk — of one who gives himself to carry into 
 practice (jautama's conception of the best life, ijach works out 
 morit for himself by a life of meditation, without undertaking for 
 others any woik which is really " priestly." Forbidden to engage 
 in useful work, and enjoined to live solely on alms, these men 
 drain the community of $25,000,000 each yeitr for their bodily 
 support alone, beside all which they get for their temples, etc. 
 This is at a rate which would amount, if Siam were as large aa our 
 own nation, to the enormous sum of $200,000,000 yearly for the 
 personal support of priests. Ignorant as they usually are, yet the 
 whole education of the people is in their hands ; and every man 
 in the nation spends at least part of his life in the priesthood, 
 while every womau and child is glad to gain merit by leeding them. 
 They not only control the nation, but uiay almost bo said to include 
 it, bodily ; and it may be imagined how iirmly they hold it to Buddh- 
 ism. When it is possible for a man to say, as one of these priests 
 did, " I do not worship the gods, but they worship me," and to 
 really believe that by rigid perseverance in his system he can out- 
 rank any being in existence, it is evident that such }»ride will not 
 readily confess itself wholly wrong, and accept any new religion. 
 
 How can a system be conceived UKjre completely guarded 
 against the entrance of Christianity, and at the same time more 
 utterly in need of the gospel '( It might readily be expected that 
 missionary work would make slow progress under such circum- 
 stances. We can the better appreciate, then, that advance which 
 has actually been made. 
 
 HUMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 
 
 The Church of Bome established its missions in Siam as early as 
 lCLi2. The grand embassy from Louis XIV., a few years later, 
 was accompanied by a number of priests, and from that time to the 
 
 i.i^ 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SIAM. 11 
 
 present they have tenaciously held their ground, through periods of 
 severe persecution or of couteuiptuous toleration, varied only occa- 
 sionally by intervals of royal favor. They have found the work to 
 be one of special difficulty, however, and their eS'orts have produced 
 far less result thau in most other missions conducted by them. 
 Yet the size of their roll is still greater than that of the Protestant 
 missions, and it is therefore necessary to remember that the difi'er- 
 ence in quality is so radical and complete that such a couiparLson 
 of quantities is utterly misleading. This declariition would not be 
 lUade if the Roman Church held the same standard in Siani which 
 it does in England or America, instead of siukiiig, as it actually 
 has done, almost to the level of heathenism itself. This can be 
 tested by observing its attitude towards the " Christians," the 
 Siamese, and the Chinese. 
 
 There is still quite a considerable body of mixed descendants 
 from the early Portuguese settlers whom the Roman priesta have 
 succeeded in keeping from apostatizing to Buddhi.sm ; but their 
 preservation as a distinct body bearing the name of " Christian" 
 has been a very questionable benefit. J)v. GutzlafF, for example, 
 found that the servility and moral degradation of these " Chris- 
 tians" had inspired the Siamese with such contempt, not only for 
 the religion but for the civilization and power of all Europeans, 
 that they only began to change their minds upon finding that 
 Jiritish arms had actually defeated and conquered Burmah, which 
 is on the very border of Siam itself. What wonder is it that to 
 such a body as this there have been added scarcely any converts 
 whatever from among adult Siamese, and that the rolls of the 
 Roman Church are enlarged mainly by claiming the names of those 
 heathen infants who are surreptitiously baptized when at the point 
 of death, by the priests or their assistants, under the guise of 
 administering medicine'/' 
 
 Prom the Chinese traders Dr. House informs us that the Roman 
 priests have received of late quite an accession, by offering as a 
 consideration the protection of the Prcnch government, with cou- 
 6e(jueut immunity I'roui the many exactions and aimoyances of the 
 Siamese officials. It is very evident that a roll of names made up 
 on such princi})le8 and for such a body can in no way be consid- 
 ered as a roll of Christian converts, and compared as such with 
 that of ProtcHtant churches. Whatever could be accompliahed by 
 Jesuit influence has always been tried, to induce the native govern- 
 ment to expel from the country every gospel missionary. Mo 
 retaliation for these attacks has been attempted, but it has been 
 clearly perceived that the need of Siam for Protestant missions id 
 not a particle the less, but rather the greater, because of the mis- 
 sion work of the Church of Rome. 
 
 
\ 12 HISTOJftlOAl, SKETCH op 
 
 I PROTESTANT MISSIONS. 
 
 f;4 : , "It is an interesting fact," says Dr. House, " that tlie very first 
 
 effort made by any of the I'rotestaut faith for the spiritual good of 
 T the people of Siam was by a woman. This was Aun Haaeltiue 
 
 \ Judsou, of saiuLod memory, who had become interested in some 
 
 ' Siamese living at llangoou, where she then resided. Ja a letter to 
 
 \ a friend'in the Ifnited States, dated April 30, 1818, she writes, 
 
 'Accompanying is a catechism in Siaujcse, which I have juat 
 copied for you. I have atteuded to the Siauieae language lor 
 ' about a year and a half, and, with the assistance of uiy teacher, 
 
 have translated the Barman catechism (just prepared by Dr. Jud- 
 son), a tract contiiiniug an abstract of Christianity and the Gospel 
 of Matthew, into that language.' The catechism was printed by 
 the English Baptibt mission press at Serampore in lHli3, being the 
 first Christian book ever printed in Siamese." 
 
 For more than twenty years after this time, however, Siam was 
 regarded by mission workers chiefly as a point of approach to 
 China, where nearly one-third of the human race were living in 
 I total ignorance of Christianity. It was in this way that liangkok 
 
 was visited in 1828 by the celebrated Dr. Karl GntzlaiF, whose 
 ; works upon China are still of great value. He was then connected 
 
 with the Netherland Missionary Society, and was accouipauied by 
 llev. Mr. Tomlin, of the London society's mission at Singapore. 
 They immediately gave their eervices as physicians to crowds of 
 patients, and distributed twenty-five boxes of books and tracts in 
 Chinese within two. months. They connected with tlicir Cliiuese 
 work the study of Siamese, even attemptiug to translate the Scrip- 
 tures into that language. Appeals were also sent by tlicm to the 
 American churches and the American Board of Commissioners ior 
 Foreign Missions, and to Dr. Judson in Burmah, urging that mis- 
 sionaries be sent to Siam. Mr. Tomlin was compelled by severe 
 illness to return to Singapore in the following year. Late in 182li 
 Dr. Gutzlaff, having prepared a tract iu Siamese and translated 
 - one of the Gospels, also visited Singapore to have them printed. 
 
 While there he was married to Miss Maria Newell, of the ]jondou 
 Missionary Society, the first woman to underUike personal work 
 for Christ in Siam itself, whither slio went a few months alter 
 their marriage. She lived, however, little more than a year after 
 that time, and her babe Soon followed her. Her husband, being 
 extremely ill, was urged to sail northward to Cliina itself, which, in 
 spito of great peril, ho succeeded in doing, and began, on his re- 
 covery, a singularly-adventurous pioneer work in that land. He 
 was but twenty-five years ot age when he reached Siam, and put 
 f . forth all the energy of his uatiire into the work he found there. 
 
 W i 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SiAM. 13 
 
 The death of his devoted wife and his owu enforced departure to 
 China were felt to be no ordinary loss for Siaui. A few days afler 
 he had sailed, in June, 1831, llev. David Abeel arrived, having 
 been sent by the American Board of Coninii.ssiouers for Forei^u 
 Missions in answer to tlie appeal of Gntzlatf and Tonilin. Mr. 
 Tonilin himself came with him, but could only remain for six 
 months, when he was placed in charjjje of the Anglo-Chinese col- 
 lege at Malacca. After repeated experinienta, Dr. Abeel also was 
 compelled to give up work in Siam, on account of protracted ill- 
 health, in November, 1882. The American ]5oard thereupon S(Mit 
 out liev. JMessrs. Johnson and Robinson, who arrived in July, 
 1834, and D. B. Bradley, M.D., in July, 1835. "Like all their 
 predecessors, these missionaries had gome knowledge of the healing 
 art and a stock of medicines for free distribution ; so that the peo- 
 ple of Siam naturally give to every Protestant missionary the title 
 of ' mau,' or ' doctor of medicine.' " Several of them have been 
 fully-trained physicians, among whom was Dr. Bradley. "His 
 work as medical missionary, writer and translator into Siamese of 
 Christian books, printer, and preacher, continued with a zeal and 
 hope which knew neither weariness nor discouragement until his 
 lamented death, after thirty-eight years of toil, in June, 1873." 
 Two of his daughters, Mrs, McGilvary and Mrs. Cheek, still con- 
 tinue on the ficM as the wives of Presbyterian missionaries. Upon 
 the opening of China to missionary work, the American Board 
 transferred its efforts to that country, and gave its field in Siam to 
 the "American Missionary Society," by which the work was uuiiu- 
 tained for some years longer, and then discontinued. 
 
 An American Baptist mission to the Chinese in Siam is still 
 carried on with great success by the vtiteran soldier of the cross, 
 llev. Dr. Dean, who was its founder in 1835. There was for many 
 years another department of the mission, beginning still earlier, in 
 ] 833, and addressing itself to the Siamese themselves. This has 
 now fur several years been discontinued, and the entiro strength of 
 the Baptist mission is concentrated upon its work for the Chinese, 
 which proved to bo much the more successful of the two. These 
 Chinese, it will bo understood, keep themselves as distinct from the 
 natives as they do in our own land. They are much the more 
 energetic race, and have rapidly accumulated for themselves the 
 positions of profitable enterprise in the land. If the Siamese are 
 permanently to hold their own, they greatly need the stimulating 
 influence of Christian religion and civilization. They liavo traits 
 of their own, however, which are pecuJiarly favorable to such de- 
 velopment, and we have cause, not only for the sense of respon- 
 sibility but for hijpefnl effort, in the fact that the entire work of 
 Christianizing the natives of Siam is left to the PrcsbyLerian Church. 
 
 -J 
 
Ifl UlSTOUJCAL BKETCII OF 
 
 Ours ia the ouly Siamese mission which has remained in permanent 
 operation. 
 
 PKESBYTERUN MISSIONS. 
 
 The first visit made to Siam by any representative of our own 
 Church was ibr the same purpose which had already "brought other 
 missionaries there — namely, to find some door of access to the 
 Chinese. _ This was in November, 1838, when Itev. Mr. Orr spent 
 a month in Bangkok, and thereupon recommended our Board of 
 Foreign Missions to take this country as a field of effurt, not ouly 
 for the Chinese, but for the Siamese themselves. In accordance 
 with this recommendation the llev. W. P. Bucll wjis sent to ]]aug- 
 kok, where he arrived in ]8i0. AfU^r remaining until 1844 and 
 doing good fuundation work, he was compelled to leave the field to 
 bring home filrs. Buell, who had been stricken with paralysis. 
 Arrangements were made to fill his place as soon as possible, but 
 irom various reasons it was not until 1847 that the next mission- 
 aries actually reached Siam. From that time until the present, 
 continuous work has been maintained; and as the Chinese could 
 then be reached in their own land, our mission here addressed it- 
 self directly to the native Siamese. 
 
 The Bev. Stephen Mattoon and wife, with Bev. S. B. House, 
 M.D., were the missionaries who began work in that year. Their 
 foothold seemed, however, very precarious for several years after- 
 ward, on account of the active, though secret, opposition of the 
 king. Without openly using force, he so exerted his despotic in- 
 fluence upon the slavish people that none of them could be induced 
 to rent or sell any house to the missionaries, and a most eflectual 
 obstacle to their work was thus presented. Other difliculties of 
 the same general nature were put in their way, and it seenied quite 
 certain that they would actually be edged away from tho land alto- 
 gether. 
 
 About the same time Sir James Brooks, who had arrived to 
 open negotiations with the king on behalf of the British govern- 
 uient, found himself treated in a manner which he considered so 
 insulting that he indignantly took ship again with the purpose of 
 securing assistance in the effort to open the country by main Ibrce. 
 Just at the moment when all these complications were at their 
 height, the death of the king was announced (April 3, 1851). 
 This event brought about a complete change in the whole situation, 
 and in all the succeeding history of the country; a change which 
 is directly traceable to the inliucnce of Protestant missions. The 
 man whom the assembly of nobles elected to till the throne, and 
 who reigned from 1851 until the end of lH(;8, proved to be very 
 liberal in all liis policy. When tho next embassy from the British 
 
 L. 
 
TUE MISSIONS IN 8IAM. 13 
 
 government reached Siam, under Sir John Bowring, it was to find 
 on the throne no longer an ignorant, unmanageable barbarian, but 
 a man who could appreciate civilization, and who claimed to ha 
 himself quite a scholar even by European standards. This came 
 from the fact that while still in private lile he was oceupiud much 
 of hia time, under the instruction of a Baptist missionary, iu the 
 study of lanf!;uage and of modern science. 
 
 For the thirty years which have now intervened since hia access- 
 ion, Protestant missionaries have been accorded very noticeable 
 influence with the government. In estimating the result of their 
 work, this fact must bo given much prominence. An official doc- 
 ument, under the royal sanction, makes the Ibllowin^ statement: 
 " Many ycai-s ago the American missionaries camo here. They 
 came before any other l<]uroj)eans, and they tauj^ht the Siamese to 
 speak and read the English language. The American missionaries 
 have always been just and upright men. They have never meddled 
 in the afiaira of government, nor created any difficulty with the 
 Siamese. They have lived with tho Siamese just as if they be- 
 longed to the nation. The government of Siam has great love and 
 respect for them, and has no fear whatever concerning them. When 
 there has been a difficulty of any kind, the missionaries have many 
 times rendered valuable assistance. For this reason the Siamese 
 have loved and respected them for a long time. The Americans 
 have also taught the Siamese many things." 
 
 Kelerence is also fre<juently made to the statement of a regent 
 that " Siam was not opened by Briti!>h gunpowder like China, but 
 by the influence of missionaries." No estimate of missiuu work 
 would be complete, therefore, which did uot include its connection 
 with these great changes iu the whole attitude and condiliun of tho 
 nation, which have already astonished the world, and which are of 
 still ampler promise for the future. Though such results may be 
 considered as indirect and preparatory, they are to be thankl'ully 
 acknowledged before God, who has chosen to attest His blessing 
 and help iu this form, while not omitting further tokens of a more 
 immediately spiritual nature. 
 
 Perhaj)S the best way to view tho course of our work will be to 
 look at it iu connection with tho places which have successively 
 becu taken up as centres of effiirt, among both Siamese and Laos. 
 
 BANGKOK. 
 
 The first convert in connection with the mission was the Chinese 
 teacher Qua-Kieng, who was baptized in 1844, and died in the 
 I'aith iu 1859. It is interesting to learn that three ol'his children 
 became Christians after his death, one of them a eandidule for tho 
 ministry. This is by no means the only instance iu the history of 
 
 ■\ L 
 
 »^Jia*i***tm*^^ 
 
IG HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 the mission in wliicli the baptized children, cither of foreign or of 
 native laborers, have taken up the work of their fathers. 
 
 A good record is also given of Nai Chuue, the first native Siam- 
 ese convert. "Though frequently oflered positions of honor, 
 lucrative oflQcea and employment by the government, he refuses all 
 and chooses to support himself by the practice of medicine, that 
 thus he may the more readily carry the gospel message." 
 
 It was not until 1859, however, that this first convert was made. 
 Twelve hmg years had elapsed before the missionaries of IH-IT 
 were given the joy of gathering any first-fruita of their labors. 
 Such a period of delay has not been unknown in the history of 
 several other mission fields, which became therealter eminently suc- 
 cessful, and in view of all the obstacles in the case now before us, 
 it can hardly be thought surprising. Instead of causing ilis ser- 
 vants to reap immediately, by bringing one part of the field into 
 full maturity, the JNlaster chose, as we have seen, to use them for 
 doing long-continued preparatory work, which will in the end 
 attest His wisdom as the Lord of the harvest. Tokens have more- 
 over come to light within recent years which show that there 
 really was success, even of a directly spiritual nature, where there 
 were no signs visible to the workers through the years of patiunt 
 perseverance. For example, several years after j)r, Bradley's 
 death a marked instance of conversion was found, which was 
 traceable directly to his faithful eil'urts in the jjiinting and distri- 
 bution of Christian truth. In a letter fnnu tlie Laos mission in 
 May, 1878, we are tuld of a visit made some mouths earlier, in 
 cfune, 1877, by a venerable stranger, evidently a man ol" high rank, 
 who came to ask medicine I'ur his deafness, and i-efcrred to the 
 miraculous cure which Christ had wrought upon a deaf man. lie 
 ])roved to be the highest officer of the court in the province of 
 Lakaron, and at the time of this visit was seventy-three years of 
 age. Twenty years before, ho had visited Bangkok and received 
 religious books from Dr. Bradley. They were printed in the 
 Siamese character, which is so dilferent IVom that used by the 
 Laos, though the languages then. selves are uiueh the same, that he 
 could not at the time read them, but learned the Siamese character 
 lijr the purpose of so doing. IJe gave inward assent to the truth 
 contained in them so far as he could understand it, but had never 
 found any missionary to give him further instruction in his far-off 
 home. He was now brought, ior further light, to a place where 
 meantime a Christian mission lud been established i'or his nation. 
 The path was opened by Divine Providence in his case, as in 
 that of bo many others In every age and laud, throngli God's over- 
 ruling of human persecution. His firmness of principle now 
 brought upon him such trouble iu hia own province that he had 
 
THE MISSIONS IN SlA^l. 17 
 
 come to Chieng-mai, where lie immediately sought out the mission' 
 aries. From that time he made this matter his one study, obtain- 
 ing Buddhist books from the temple, and comparing them with 
 Christian books, in the full exercise of that keen, practical sagacity 
 for which he was noted. He intended to present himself at the 
 communion-table in April, but was obliged to remain at homo 
 under a severe attack of illness. At the next coumiunion, how- 
 ever, he made his appearance, declaring his conviction that the 
 Ijealing of his disease had been in answer to prayer. The mission- 
 ary who moderated the session at his examinatitjn had seldom 
 heard a more satisfactory and intelligent confession of faith in 
 Christ than was given by him. As soon as he was known to be a 
 Christian he was ordered back to his native city lar away. His 
 death was not unlikely to be the result; but he said to his Chris- 
 tian friends, " If they want to kill me because I worship Christ, 
 and not demons, I will let them pierce me." His life was spared 
 in the end, but office, wealth, and social position were taken, and 
 he was ignored by all his friends. Later still we liear of him as 
 starting to walk all the way to Chieng-mai, being too impoverished 
 to command any mode of conveyance more suitable for his old age. 
 His object in coming was to hear still further about the liord 
 Jesus, and the result of this second visit was the return with him 
 of two native members from the Chieng-mai church to begin work 
 in his native city. Out of this there is now developing one of our 
 most promising out-statiims; and the whole affair is traceable 
 directly to the patient work of that early missionary, who never in 
 this life came to know anything of it. 
 
 Another instance of the same kind is mentioned in a letter of 
 Rev. Mr. Duulap from Petchaburi in February, 1H79. He speaks 
 of visiting a very old Christian, who was evidently near his end, and 
 there learning that he had received portions of the Bible from Dr. 
 Bradley many years before, which he had hidden for fear of the 
 authorities, and studied in secret, until ho accepted Christ as tliero 
 revealed, and put away his idols. Since that time his life had 
 been that of a devoted Christian, active in work ibr other souls. 
 Near him in his sickness lay his Bible and other books, among 
 theui the " Pilgrim's Progress," which he said he had read and 
 re-read with joy. "The aged disciple," writes Mr. Dunlap, "said 
 to the native preacher who accompanied me, ' I pray every day, 
 but often wonder if I pray aright; if you will listen 1 will tell you, 
 that you may teach me.' I listened also, and to such a prayer ! 
 It was full of humility, faith, and thanksgiving. He had plainly 
 been taught by the best and highest of teachers." 
 
 No doubt these cases are but specimens of a class in which 
 spiritual results were really gained during the very years which 
 
 Ihliwi 
 
 .1 a..u U^iJ 4uaU »4iu.> .1 
 
1^ msTOaipAl, Slifi^C^ OF 
 
 seemed so barroR of immediate fruit Siuce the time when the first 
 open confcesioa was made by a native convert, other uiembera have 
 been steadily gathered into the churches, and the work, thougli it 
 may be considered as still very largely in its prei)aratory stage, bus 
 many a token of encouraging succesa. All the usuul forms of Chriij- 
 tiau eflbrt are employed with dihgence and ellectiveness. 
 
 PrcachliKj, both in chapels aud by the wayside, has been given 
 from the very beginning that prouiiueuce which justly belongs to 
 It as the ordinance of Christ for the saving of souls. Whatever 
 else is done, this is also done. The establishment of stations for 
 regular preaching, and the organization of churches, have received 
 full attention wherever God opened the way. 
 
 The Press affords another agency of especial importance among 
 a people where four-fifths of the men and boys are able to read. 
 The mission press at Bangkok ia constantly sending forth copies of 
 the Scriptures in Siamese, with translations from such books as the 
 " PUgrim's Progress," the « Child's Book of the Soul," etc., aud 
 also tracts and books prepared especially for this purpose. Its 
 publication of the Siamese Hymnal has also proved very service- 
 able among a music-loving race. It may be mentioned that the 
 Bible itself is usually printed in separate portions only, on account 
 of the fact tliat a complete copy, even in the smallest Siamese type, 
 would make a volume of larger size thau our Webster's Unabridged 
 Dictionary. In April, 1881, the whole Bible had been translared, 
 except the books of Chronicles, which were in progress; and most 
 of it had been printed. The delay in translating is caused by the 
 need of accuracy, such as can only be ensured by enipluyiiig men 
 who have been long on the field and have become very lamiliar 
 with the language. There have been in use, almost from the very 
 beginning, translations of the Gospels and of some other books which 
 liave served a good purpose lor the time; but thu preparation of a 
 standard Siamese Bible, which is greatly needed, is of much slower 
 and n)oro diflicult attainujeut. The language is one which does 
 not lend itself to the expression of truths so elevated as those of 
 Scripture, with as much facility as some others which appear less 
 promising. In 1880 there were printed U5U0 copies of Matthew 
 aud lOUU each of five Old Testament books, besides much other 
 matter. 
 
 Medical work has also been a most valuable adjunct of mission- 
 ary efibrt, and this in two ways. Here, as in every land, it opens 
 a way to the hearts of men by its self-denying beneficence, and 
 aflords many an o])portunity of pointing the sin-sick soul to the 
 Great Physician. But there is also the further efiect oi' undermining 
 the native coufidcuec in the eflicacy of sj)irit-worsliip. The niero 
 luct of finding malaria healed through the use ol" quinine by one 
 
•mi& m^aiQn^ in sum. 19 
 
 r . . . . ■ 
 
 I of the native assiatanta is mentioned as producing a marked im- 
 
 [ prcBsiou of this kind- It helps to convince them that Christianity 
 
 r shows itself to be of God by its harmony with all other truth, even 
 
 I in nature and science; whereas the whole teachings of ]Juddhism 
 
 j' regarding its system of heavens aud hells are contradicted and dis- 
 
 f proved by the science of astronomy, aud the eniployuient of incau- 
 
 >' tations and witchcraft for the sick is proven to be I'alsu aud naelcss 
 
 K by the scientitic medical practice iutroduced by missionaries. The 
 
 I opportunities for such service are abundant. Tliirty-four years ago 
 
 f Dr. House found this at the very beginning of his practicu to such 
 
 il au exteut that in the firsteighteea mouths ho treated 3117 patients. 
 
 I The need of Buch practice was shown in a terrible way suuu aiUr- 
 
 I ward, when cholera was eui-rying otf its victiuis at the rute of 30,UU0 
 
 I a month. So favomblo is the iiupresbiou produced upiui the Siam- 
 
 l cse by this work that they are now takiugit up ior themselves. In 
 
 i 1881 it is noted that a hospital for CO patients had been erected and 
 
 l given for public use by a native nubleman, and in charge of native 
 
 i attendants; the physician in charge being Dr. Tien lice, who had 
 
 • graduated some years earlier front the missiuuary boarding-school 
 
 i at Bangkok, and afterward from the Medical School of the Uni- 
 
 I versity of tho City of New York. The very existence and opera- 
 
 f tion of such a hospital is a living argument against Buddhism, of 
 
 P--. \ uuceasing aud over-widening operation. The sad need of it, even 
 
 ^ for the purpose of humane care ior the suffering, was showu 
 
 i immediately alter its erection, during the renewed visitation of 
 
 I cholera in the summer of 1881, when the death-rate in liangkok 
 
 I had risen to five hundred a day at the very beginning of July. 
 
 I Surely there is abundant material for prayer to the Great Physician 
 
 f at our missionary concerts, in view of such facta as these. The 
 
 j devoted efforts of Christian physicians, laboring in the midst of all 
 
 I dangers, and, in such cases as that of the veteran Dr. House, for 
 
 ;( the period of a whole generation, deserve the mott cordial recog- 
 
 [ nition aud support. 
 
 \ Education has, of course, a most important bearing upon mission 
 
 \ work. The experience of Dr. DuQ iu India, and in lucL that of all 
 
 i who have fairly tried the experiment, confirm everything which 
 
 ' has been already said of the benefit secured by showing the heathen 
 that scientific facts are never contradictory to the real doctrine of 
 the Christian Scriptures, while suuh facts are always contradictory to 
 
 ' the systems of false religion. Evcu the ordinary lessons of the day- 
 school are found to produce among heathen families a powerful 
 impression concerning religion, while of course the ini.-siouary 
 teachers embrace every suitable opportunity for duvclly religiouij 
 
 \ efiort. There was at first no small difliculty in perbuuding any of 
 the Siamese to come and be taught, and even iu securing a really 
 
 winMiMM 
 
 iaMillM<M«ilMlmMu«.IK«MIHMiili^AiiJ.*.k 
 
20 HISTORICAL SKETCH OP - 
 
 desirable site for a school. Tlie premises fii-st occupied for tho 
 missioQ at Bangkok, aud tho bost which could at the time bo ob- 
 taiued, were at the lower end of the city. Hero are two dwelling- 
 houses, a ohapel and room for the printing press, together with ttio 
 school-house ibr boys. It was years al'ter tliis before another lot 
 was procured, snme live miles further up the river iu au excellent 
 position, opposite some X)f the palaces and amidst the better resi- 
 dences. Here is u house for the missiouarios and one for the 
 girls' boarding-school. 
 
 Tho boys' school began work as early as 1852, and had an 
 attendance in 1880 of sixty-.seven ; the girls' school, organized 
 much later, had thirty attendants at the same date. There is an 
 organized church at each of those points made up in part of tho 
 membership of tlie schools. 
 
 Great encouragement has been felt because of tho interest and 
 approbation manifested by the government in all our educational 
 work. The recent appointmeut by the king of l)r. MacKarland to 
 be principal of tho li )yal College at Bangkok and Superintendent 
 of Public lnslructi:iQ at large is very noteworthy. The largo salary 
 given for this service enables Dr. MacKarland to dispense with any 
 support from the Board of Foreign Missions, while he still con- 
 tinues Voluntarily to preach and teach Christianity in addition to 
 the important W(»rk of his new position, whose iuduenoe is of in- 
 calculable advantage to the whole cause. 
 
 PETCUAliUHI. 
 
 This city, one hundred miles scnithwest of the capital, is tho 
 favorite sanitary resort for Europeans and I'or the court. Though 
 numbering but twenty thousand inhabitants, it is tho central point 
 of inllueuce f jr a district containing a ])opnlation of live hundred 
 thousand. It is a signilieant fact that when Betchaburi was visited 
 by a missionary in 18-lii his lM)oks were refused, and every attempt 
 to exert even u passing induence for Christianity was rejjulsed in 
 the most uncompromising manner by the authorities. In 18G1, 
 however, it was by the urgent recjuest of the governor that a 
 station was ftjruied at this jjoint. Two years later there were throe 
 native converts ap[»lyiug for membersliip, and a church was there- 
 upon organized, which haa been steadily growing ever since. 
 
 School work is very pnnninent in I'etchaliuri. There were 
 eight schools at different points in the city in 1880, and the fjiirls' 
 Industrial School has much of special interest connected with it. 
 In 18G5, when the ladies tried to induce some of tho ignorant 
 half-grown girls of the neighborhood to come and be taught sew- 
 ing, with reading aud writing, there was much diiUculty iu secur- 
 ing even one. The idea of teaching a girl anything was so com- 
 
THE MISSIONS IN BIAM. 21 
 
 pletelj novel that the greatest opposition was made by the parents, 
 as well as the girls themselves, to such an uudcrtakiiig. The 
 results in this case, however, approved themselves so well that the 
 new enterprise grew in i'avor, and before very lung the two ladies 
 had forty-five girls in their charge, which was quite as many as 
 they could care for, with all their other activities. In 1880 there 
 were forty-nine in attendance. Soon after this Vfus begun an in- 
 vitation was extended to younger scholars, for whom a primary 
 school was formed. In this case also the result was most encour- 
 aging. Parents would come to visit the school, rcpeatiug there 
 the Scripture verses which they had caught from their children. 
 
 At oue of the other schools the two native teachers were Chris- 
 tians, and the report also mentions that all but two of the thirty- 
 eight scholars were from families in which were some church 
 members j so that they were to some extent becoming surrounded 
 by Christian influences. "The girls," we are told, "learn to make 
 clothes and wear them, to find it possible to live without swearing 
 or chewing betel." The filthy practice of chewing a mixture of 
 tobacco and the betel nut, which is uuiven-al, and that of being 
 what we should call half-naked, which is slowly being corrected, 
 would be very sure to attract the attention of any Christian woman. 
 The details of daily work in these schools are full of interest, and 
 it is greatly to be desired thyt the Furtiijn Mlssiunari/ nuigazine 
 and the Wvman's Work fur \Yui>ian^ which record many such 
 facts, should have a largely-increased body of regular readers. lu 
 the present sketch it is only possible to indicate in passing that 
 which can be Ibuud in those magazines with full details. The 
 interest of the Siamese is shown by the fact that the king gave 
 $1000, and his nobles $1300 more, for the new school building. 
 
 The native ministri/ began to receive its development at this 
 station. lu 1860 the license to preach was for the first time given 
 to a native Christian, and there were four licentiates at work in 
 the mission in 1H80. The native preacher who is mentioned in a 
 letter from Petchaburi, dated 1880, bears the marks of an excel- 
 lent Christian. lie w;'S so aflfectionately attached to the elder of 
 his church that the death of the latter brought upon him a severe 
 illness, which threatened his own life. He is depicted iis faithful 
 in family training, constant in preaching labors, in acting as as- 
 sistant surgeon also, vticcinating the people, and giving help of 
 any kind wherever needed. Emergencies re<juiring just such 
 ready helpers are not seldom found, as, for example, in the cholera 
 scourge of 1881, which was fearfully prevalent not only in Bang- 
 kok, but throughout many other cities. The letter of Miss (yort, 
 in the Foreign MUsionari/ of Octuber, 1881, jjresents a picture of 
 desperate suliering all around, and of pure Christian devoledness, 
 
 « «l>t.>.*«* UlliMi ■»J.4*Mt-t-. -•<.-.«'.' ._>1^' 
 
5)3 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 wbich ifi iuteusQ in its very simplicity. It is f^routly to be depre> 
 fated that such a station should bo left, as Petchaburi was in 1880, 
 fur several months without any ordained minister on the groi+nd. 
 The ladies of the mission cared faithfully for its interests, but 
 there are U)any needful services which in a heathen city cannot be 
 performed by ladies. It looks as if they really needed to be heli)ed 
 in their own work, and not to be taken off from it to do a servico 
 which calls urgently for new recruits. The niissionary work duno 
 by these Christian women on their journeys through the country 
 gives further token of their earnestness and tact. Fresh life and 
 courageous effort may be seen on every side, indeed, in the oper-. 
 ations of this little Christian band as a whole. 
 
 OITT-STATIONS. 
 
 The best sign of health in any church, in the foreign field or at 
 liome, is the existence of an aggressive spirit, leading the members 
 to go out to the world around them with their prayers, gifts, and 
 efforts. This sign marks both of the churches at which we have 
 been looking. 
 
 Froui Bangkok mission effort extended itself to the city of 
 Ayuthia, some distance further up the river. This point was 
 occupied as a regular station in 1872, and since tho departure of 
 llev. Mr. Carrington, in 1875, it has been carried on by native 
 effort. The two churches of Bangkok combined in the erection of 
 a chapel and house, as widl as the support of a native teacher. 
 
 The Petchaburi mission has stations at Bangk-boon .ind Wang- 
 tako, each with its chapel i'oj regular preaching, and there are 
 also other points of effort which mark this as a field of much 
 promise. 
 
 THE LAOS MISSION. 
 
 This name indicates an organization which is distinct and sepa- 
 rate, though it is grouped with the Siamese mission in our reports, 
 and is of course very closely connected with it. Tho Laos people, 
 it will bo remembered, are distinct irom the Siamese, though sub- 
 ject to the royal government. Tho upper plain which has already 
 been described as their home, though but five hundred miles abovo 
 Bangkok, is practically iurther IVom it tiian is New York it.self, if 
 the distance is estimated by the length of time recjuircd for tho 
 journey. The rapids in the river and the almost impassable mouut- 
 uins on each side of it present a barrier not (juickly passed o\"er. 
 Chieng-mai, the capital, was visited by a deputation from the Siam 
 mission in 18G3, and in 18(J7 and 18G8 Messrs. MctJiilvary and 
 Wilson came U) remain. They wore soon encouraged by the cuii- 
 
 L 
 
 '^'^^ '---■• 
 
TU|i *ij&8;Qf<& lin 8tAM. 23 
 
 versiou of Nail Iota, a ma,H who had tbp^oughly studied Buddhiaaj 
 aad was dissatisjicd with it, while kuowing of uuthiug t-o replace 
 it. lie was much impressed by having the eclipse ol" Augubt 18, 
 18G8, foretold by the uiissiouary a week in advance. He i'ouiul 
 the seieuce of the Christians disproving the fables of IJuddhisw, 
 and at oqce began eagerly to study the more directly spiritual 
 truths connected with Christianity. He was soun able to make au 
 intelligent confession of faith in Christ, and seven other converts 
 were baptized within a few months. At this point the infant 
 church was brought to a season of persecution and lyartyrdom. 
 The king of the Laos, who usually exercised full control over his 
 own people, though tributary to Siam, began to manifest the lios- 
 tility which he had thus far concealed. Nui Soonyaand Nan Chai 
 Wtire arrested, and on being brought before the authorities con- 
 fessed that they had forsaken Buddhism. The "death-yoke" was 
 then put around their necks, and a small rope was pyi^sed through 
 the holes in their ears (used for ear-rings by all the natives), and 
 carried over the beam of the house, to which they were thus tied as 
 tightly as they could bear it. After being thus tortured all night 
 thoy were again examined in the morning, but steadfastly rdused 
 to deny their Lord and Saviour even in the face of death. They 
 prepared for executiun by praying unto II im, closing with the 
 words, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Being then taken off to 
 the jungle they were clubbed to death by the executioner, and one 
 of them, not dying quickly enough, was thrust through the heart 
 by u spear. The whole record is like one from the apostulio age, 
 and speaks vividly of the first martyrs and of the same Lord by 
 whose living presence they were sustained. Such fruits of the 
 Spirit are unmistakable. 
 
 The persecution which thus began checked seriously for tho 
 time- any progress in mission work. Shortly after this, however, 
 the king died, and progress was resumed. Several new converts 
 were soon received, and it was found that these cases of martyrdom 
 had produced a deep impression lor good. Still later, in 1878, 
 another crisis was eacouutered, though less serious iu its nature. 
 The missionaries had decided to perform the marriage ceremony 
 between two native Christians who had applied to them, and to do 
 this without making any provision for the customary least to tho 
 demons. The relatives, who were all devil-wor.ship{)ers, prevented 
 the marriage on this account, and the authorities supported them 
 iu the refusal. An appeal was at once made to the king of Siam, 
 which brought for reply a " Proelumation of Beligious Liberty to 
 the Laos," which has placed the whole matter on a new basis and 
 entirely changed the conduct of the otlicials. This proclamation 
 was viewed as a great step iu advance. It will bo seen that 
 
 l^aWAiitMHMWn 
 
 u.^ 
 
24 UISTOKIOAL SKEl'CH Oi' 
 
 although Buddhism is theoretically opposed both to persecution !• 
 
 aud to devil-worship, yet Buddhista cau bo practically guilty of j 
 
 both the one aud the other. ' 
 
 The pulpit and the press, the school-house aud the hospital, are I 
 
 to be given active operation here, as in the Siamese niiiision. < 
 
 The work ot* printing has been delayed by the great difficulty iu | 
 
 procuring suitable type. The characters used, as noted above, are ' 
 
 entirely diiierent from those emi)loyed by the Siauiese ; and the / 
 
 diversified uature of a missionary's work would be vividly reali7.ed 
 by any one who should read Mr. Wilson's experien(;e with the : 
 
 type foundries in New York and Boston, followed by other difficul- '| 
 
 ties on the field. The work of translating aud printing is urged i 
 
 forward with all diligence. i 
 
 Dr. Cheek's tiiuiporary hospital, though but a mere shed of bam- I 
 
 boo, is described as rendering most important service to the whole i 
 
 cause, aud well deserving to be replaced with a permanent builduig. ; 
 
 The girls' boardiug-.school is most successfully iiumaged, and one ; 
 
 for boys is in course of establishment. This department of the 
 work met with sad bereavement in February, 1881, by the drown- 
 ing of Miss Mary Campbell on her way back from a visit to Bang- 
 kok. The uarrative as given by Miss Ilartwell, iu the Forciijii 
 Missionary/ for May, 1881, is full of pathetic interest. Dr. Cheek's 
 watchful care to preveut any accident, aud his persistent cfl'orts at 
 rescue, even wheu himself so nearly drowned as to bo deprived of 
 the power of s])eech, are fully recoguized ; as is also the fatal super- 
 btitiou Avhich kept the natives from rendering any assistance, aud 
 the power of Christian principle in the native girl who alone of 
 them all had just shaken oil" the fear of demons, aud plunged into 
 the water to do what she could. There is an urgeut cull iur rein- 
 forcements, not only to fill up the gaps, but to increase the aggres- 
 sive work. Iu every direction there is an open door inviting ou- 
 tran ce. 
 
 The Chien(/-mai church is growiug well, both in numbers and in 
 grace. One of the good signs is in the fact that a prayer-meeting 
 is conducted each week by native elders and church members, with 
 careful preparation aud evident uselulness. 
 
 The Bcthlehcta church was organized iu July, 1880, at a point 
 some nine miles froru Chieug-mai. This was the result of an in- 
 teresting awakening of inquiry among the natives, who had heard 
 of Christianity from relatives visiting the capital. 
 
 The Lakouw church has also been organized, at a distance of 
 ninety miles from the parent congregation. One of the Chieng- 
 mai members, having his residence at this jKjiut, had instructed a 
 little baud in Christian truth, so that they were ready for baptism 
 when the missiouary should visit them. 
 
 
k 
 
 TUE MISSIONS IN aiAM. 25 
 
 Rahang, on tlio froutiers of Sium, half way between Chieng- 
 aiai and Bangkok, is described as inviting regular occupancy. 
 During Mr. McGilvary's visit, in 1880, he met several inquirers 
 and applicants for baptism. Two were actually baptized, and one 
 received instruction as a candidate for the ministry. 
 
 THE OUTLOOK. 
 
 In both of the missions at which we have now glanced, the pros- 
 pect is decidedly encouraging. It is true that in point of actual mem- 
 bers it has only been since 18(50 that any visible results appeared, 
 and the roll (at the beginning of 1881) included but three hundred 
 and fourteen names. The rate of progress, however, since the 
 advance did begin has steadily increased, so that in one year the 
 Siamese churches were increased by one-quarter and those of the 
 Laos by nearly one-half of their previous number. 
 
 There are other tokens, moreover, less easily stated in figures, but 
 no less obvious. Buddhism is showu to bo losing ground by such 
 facta as these : fewer men go into the priesthood, so that in Bang- 
 kok there are but half as many as there were some years since. 
 "Monasteries which formerly had from seventy-five to one hundred 
 priests have now not over twenty." Those who do enter t\m priest- 
 hood remain for a shorter term than formerly. "The king himself 
 only remained in the priesthood a month, and his younger brother 
 recently entered it for three days." Our inference from such a 
 fact is confirmed by the further statement that the leading priests 
 are themselves becoming so alarmed that they are taking vigorous 
 measures to defend Buddhism by printing and distributing books 
 which attack Christianity and uphold the native religion. We are 
 reminded of the fact that when the early missionaries arrived in 
 Siam a native nobleman said to them, " Do you with your little 
 chisel expect to remove this great mountain?" Yeai'S afterward, 
 when one of those niLssionary piomjers hud died, though without 
 seeing any fruit of his labors, another nobleman exclaimed, " Dr. 
 Bradley is gone, but he has undermined Buddhism in Siam." It 
 was a felicitous expression. "Undermining" is a form of work 
 in which every stroke tells with the greatest advantage. Even a 
 chisel may be used with success against a massive clitF if it bo 
 employed to "undermine" it. The missionaries have cut their 
 little channels under the cliff, and laid up here and there the 
 magasciues of spiritual power, in full expectation that the electiie 
 flash of divine fire would in due time pass through the channels, 
 and split in pieces the mighty rock. 
 
 But it is not enough to do merely this negative work. There is 
 pressing need of positively Christianizing the land aa it becomes 
 emptied of Buddiiism, else thi; kst state of this people >vill be 
 
 2 
 
20 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OP 
 
 worse than tlio first. IniSdelity is no iuiprovemeut upon even 
 Buddhism. Our chief encouragemout is in the evident jjresence 
 of that livin-,' Lord who can bless the more jwsitive work of build- 
 ing up Christianity, as Ho has blessed the negative work of under- 
 uiiniug Buddhism. The men who occupy the outposts on the 
 Md itself regard themselves as anything but a " furlorn hope," 
 while their weapons are proving "mighty through (Jod to tlu; 
 casting down of strongholds." We, who read of it all from afar, 
 can surely do our part in standing by them with prayer and sym- 
 pathy and every needful support. The " Captain of the host of 
 tiie Lord" may well look to us also for that "obedience of faith " 
 which shows itself by trusting in Him as to the wLsdom of the 
 plan and the certainty of its success, while meantime we simply 
 obey our standing orders by doing all we can to "preach the gospel 
 to every creature." 
 
 • 
 
 MiSSIONAKIKS, 1881. 
 8IAM. 
 
 Bangkok. — Rev. Messrs. Noah A. McDonald and James W. 
 Van Dyke and their wives; Miss Mary E. IJ|irtwoll, ]|Ii^s Hattio 
 H. McDonald, and Miss Laura A. Olmstead. ' ,/ !' .'V 
 
 Petciiaburi.— Rev. C. S. McClelland and E. A. Sturge, M.D., 
 and their wives ; Miss Sarah Coflmau and Miss Mary L. Cort. 
 
 AMONO TlIK LAOS. 
 
 CniENO-MAl. — Rev. Messrs. Daniel McGilvary, D.D., and Jon- 
 athan Wilson and their wives; Milton A. Cheek, M.D., and his 
 wife; Miss Edna S. Cole and Miss S. Archibald. 
 
 Books op Reference. 
 
 The Land of the White Elephant. P. Vincent. $3.50. 
 
 Siam ; or, the Land of the White Elephant. Rev. Mr. Bacon. 
 $1.50. 
 
 Siam : its Government, Manners, and Customs. R(;v. N. A, 
 McDonald. $1.25. 
 
 The Journal of Dr. Abeel. 
 
 Manual of Buddhism. Rev. R. Spenco Hardy. 
 
 Buddhism. T. W. Rhys Davids. 75 cents. 
 
 Ean-Kwei. Dr. W. M. Wood, U. S. N. 1^1.50. 
 
 
TUK MISSIONS IN SIAM. 
 
 27 
 
 Missionaries in Siam and Laos, 184U-1881. 
 
 I 
 
 ;|- 
 
 DicJ. i'iguroH, Term of Seivico in tliH 11. M. 
 
 .lUiUiHdii, Miss A., 
 
 Arx-liibalil, iMisi S,, 
 
 Ai til III, Ruv. K., 
 
 Artliur, Mrs., 
 
 *Buell, Rev. William P., 
 
 Buoll, Mrs., 
 
 Hu.sh, Kcv. Steiihcn, 
 
 *Busli, Mrs., 
 
 Canlun, Kev. Patrick L., 
 
 CarJcn, Mrs., 
 
 CarriiiL^lon, Rev. John, 
 
 Oarriii^toii, Mr.s., 
 
 CoHiiiaii, Miss iS., 
 
 Curt, Miss M. L., 
 
 Culbertson, Kcv. J. N., 
 
 Culbcrtson, Mrs. (Miss \ 
 
 Caldwell), 
 Dickey, Miss K. S., 
 Dunlaii, Kcv. E. P., 
 Duulaj), JSlrs., 
 George, Kev. S. C, 
 George, Mrs., 
 Griuistead, Miss S. D., 
 
 *Cainpbcll, Miss M. M., 
 Cheek, M. A. (M.D.), 
 Cheek, Mrs., 
 Cole, Miss E. S., 
 McGilvary, Kev. ])., 
 
 1872-1876 
 
 Hartwell, Miss .M. E., 
 
 1 879- 
 
 18H1- 
 
 House, Kev. ti. K. (fil.D.), 
 
 1817-1876 
 
 1871-1873 
 
 House, Mrs. 11. N., 
 
 1850-1.S715 
 
 1871-187:i 
 
 McCaulcy, Kev. J. M., 
 
 1S78-1H8U 
 
 1840-1844 
 
 Mc(Ui,ulcy, Mrs. (Miss J 
 
 
 184l)-l«4t 
 
 Koo.scr), 
 
 1878-1880 
 
 1849-186;} 
 
 Mct'lclbni.l, Kev. C. S., 
 
 1880- 
 
 1849-1851 
 
 McCUlli.iMl, Mrs., 
 
 1880- 
 
 18(36-1809 
 
 McDoual.1, Kcv. Noah .\., 
 
 1800- 
 
 18()6-18(i9 
 
 McDc.nald, Mrs., 
 
 180(1- 
 
 1 809-187.') 
 
 JMcDoiialil, Mi.-s 11. 11., 
 
 1879- 
 
 1869-187;> 
 
 AlcFarlaiul, Kev. S. G., 
 
 1800-IS78 
 
 1874- 
 
 AlcFarland, Mrs., 
 
 18()0-1878 
 
 1874- 
 
 Mattooii, Kev. S., 
 
 1847-1806 
 
 1871-1881 
 
 Mattooii, Mrs., 
 
 1 847-1. MiO 
 
 
 Morse, Kev. Andrew I)., 
 
 185C-1858 
 
 1878-1881 
 
 Morse, Mrs., 
 
 1850-1858 
 
 1871-1873 
 
 *Odeli, Mrs. John P., 
 
 ISO:!- 1804 
 
 I87.'i-1880 
 
 Olmstead, Miss 1-. A., 
 
 188(1- 
 
 la75-l,S8U 
 
 Sturge, E. A. (M.D.), 
 
 18S0- 
 
 180'.i-l,S7;t 
 
 Sturgc, Mrs., 
 
 1881- 
 
 ]802-l87;i 
 
 Van Dyke, Rev. Jaaies \V'., 
 
 1 809- 
 
 1874-1877 
 
 Van hy\iv, Mrs., 
 
 1809- 
 
 LA 
 
 us. 
 
 
 1879-1881 
 
 McGilvary, Mrs., 
 
 1860- 
 
 1875- 
 
 *Vrooniau, C. W. (M.D.), 
 
 1871-1873 
 
 1875- 
 
 Wilson, Kev. Jonathan, 
 
 1858- 
 
 1879- 
 
 *Wilson, Mrs. Maria, 
 
 1858-1860 
 
 1858- 
 
 Wilson, Mrs., 
 
 1806- 
 
 Compiled from lists jirejiarcd by Kcv. J. C. Lowrie, D.D., Secretary of the 
 Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. 
 
 'VnaHMRiMr 
 
 —WJauiAiJ «i««ilt.lll' 
 
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