Siamese Courtly Etiquette [pp. 178-192]

180 Siamese Courtly Etiquette-Titles-Forms of Ceremony, &c. [SEPTEMBER
dignantly assuring the Prime Minister
that he would be the bearer of no such
insolent epistle as that which had been
handed him, wherein the insulting epithet of "slave" had been applied to the
Chief Magistrate of a free and independent people; and that as the representative of the United States Government, he
could ho)ld no farther intercourse with a
monarch, or court, that thus wantonly
and grossly insulted the nation whose
messenger he was. The King, in all
honesty and good faith, assured Mr.
Roberts that nothing could be farther
from his wish, or intention, than "giving offence to so renowned a personage as
the American King, or ill-treating his accredited agent, the Ambassador." Then
producing the President's letter from the
golden caskt tha t fo rm ed the usual receptacle of treaties, communications from
foreign courts, &c., he invited Mr. Roberts
to examine for himself, and see whether
he had not given Mr. Jackson the identical title he clai me d for himself, simply
wondering that people should be offended
at receiving from others the very epithets
they annexed-to their own names. Quite
a burlesque, we should say, on Western
etiquette!
Mr. Roberts explained that such things
were done from courtesy merely in conformity to established usage, and were
never to be received in their literal sense.
The good-natured old monarch smiled
pleasantly at this explanation, and suimmoning his secretary, applied himself
once more to the delicate and difficult
task of so wording his reply as to bestow
"all dose honour upon the American
King," without in the least compromising his own regal dignity, or omitting any
of the requisite number-of kingly titles.
The second letter began: " The great and
magnificent King of the Sacred Empire,
to his well-beloved cousin, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, &c.,
&c., &c." Whait the &c.'s implied, was
not quite clear to the old King's mind,
but they were inserted (Is a point of
honour, and he evidently regarded them
as meaning something mysteriou-sly grand
and awfully imposing -fiery untranslatable term~s, but, nevertheless very imlpor
geance, in t he fo rm of a discharge of
these same " big g uns" on the Palace
Roy al, a sor t of forcible salute for which
"I tis S erene M aj esty" had no s pe cial
partiality.
So the docum ent hav ing b e en d uly pre sented, read, and consulted over by the
King an d Cabinet assembl ed in IPrivy
Council, a most elaborated answer was,
after considerable delay, prepare ad a nd pre sented to l'Ambassadeur Extraordinaire.
The President, in conclud ing h is letter,
had, as usudl in such cases, subscribed
h imself, "Y our M a testy's obedient, lnumble servant, A ndr ew Jackson, President
of the United States, &c., &C., &c."
The Siamese monarch's reply, dictated
by himself, and literally translated by
one of the r oyal s ecretaries, began thus:
"T he grea t and Magnificent King, the
Lord God Budh, w ho dwells serenely,
and rules over every head in the sacred
and great king dom of Siam, to his obedie nt, humble slave, Andrew Jackson,
President of the United States, greeting
amd cordial good-will."
This document was handed to Mr.
Roberts in open court, at one of the
KEing's grand levees, and i n the presence
of the Ambassador's sui te as well as the
assembled nobility of theroyal city. The
letter was open, and Mr. Roberts was requested to examine its con te nts, and
state whether the document was appropriately worded, and likely to prove satisfactory to the government whose emissary
he was.
A single glance at this arrogantlyworded epistle filled Mr. Roberts with
indignation, and tearing it in pieces, he
trampled it in the dust, and was hurriiedly quitting the Audience tIall, when
the simple-hearted old King sent the
Prime Minister to entreat his return, and
earnestly begged to be informed as to the
cause of offence, at the same time reiterating assurances of the most profound
respect an I cordial good-will toward both
the Embassy and the "American King,"
as the President is usually styled in
Siaml.
~ur. Roberts, after much persuasion,
was induced to return, bult reluctantly
consented to resume the -conference, in
.i