Life in a Palace; or, Glimpses of Royalty [pp. 449-460]

Life in a Palace; or, Glimpses of Royalty.
shouts and acclamations ofjoy that seemed
to rend the very heavens, and were yet
inadequate to the expression of half the
emotions of the myriad hearts where he
had so long been enthroned. It was, indeed, a bright and glorious renewal of
the national festivities and rejoicings that
had marked the epoch of his birth on that
gorgeous summer's night, in that beautiful harem, where his advent was hailed
with such. rapturous joy. But between
these two brilliant events, what a long,
dark night of sorrow had intervened;
and who can wonder that on that mild,
benevolent countenance those days of
anxiety and nights of wearying wakefulness have written all too plainly the lines
of care that even now, like the memory
of some troublous dream, cast their
shadows over the usually placid features.
May the complete felicity of life's calm
evening blot out the bitter memories of
its maturity, and as the curtain of death
shall close around his mortal life, may
angels be commissioned to welcome the
ransomed spirit to a kingdom and crown
larged the city w alls, buil t several new
forts and repaired the old o nes, furnished
grounds and building s for the resident
Consulates of six different nations, whose
sever al flags may now be seen fluttering
in the breezes that sweep ove r the proud
metropolis of Siam; h e has added lar gely
to the navy of the co untry in splendid
square-rigged, teak-built ships, and banished forever the clumsy, unco uth junks
of former days; and last, bl ut not least,
he ha s introduced steam into his country,
and brought it to bear efficientlya o n the
agricultural and commer cial interests of
the nation. Printing presses, and steam
presses for the manufacture o f sugar, (th e
staple of Siam, and the finest in the
world,) have been i ntroduced, and ten
noble steamers now re gularly plo w the
waters of the noble Meinam, multiplying
ten-fold the commerce of the country,
and furnishing facilities for interco urse
with the outsid e w orld th at, t en years ago,
no native-born Siames e had ever dreamed
of. At the last date s fr om the coun try,
five new steamer s we re in pr ocess of
building, and two were employed as s e mimonthly packets bet ween Bang kok and
Singapore.
These are some of the vast improvements that Sia owes to thogifayise two noble
Princes now at the helm of State, and
more es peci ally t o the a ctive, enterpri sing spirit of the younger, thoug h it is due
to the elder to state, that every effort put
forth by the seco nd ki ng has b een warmly
and intelligently seconded by the first
king,, without whose co-operation these
improvements could not have been carried
out, at least to thei r full extent.
The first king, unlike his inactive predecessor, makes frequ e nt excursions to
the sea shore, to the Provinces of Napluri,
Petchiburi, Anghin, and Katchaburi, as
well as to the old capital at Aynthia; and
in all such cases, the second king occupies his brother's place, and acts with
precisely the same authority. So when
the second king wishes to be absent for a
timne his elder brother cheerfully permits
it, and assumes all his duties till his return.
The first king resides in the Wang
Ludng, (Palace Royal;) and the second
that can never fade away.
His noble wife, faithful to her first love
during all those years of painful separation, still lives to bless his declining years
with her tender love; and th e yo ung son
we have spoken of, is now a brilliant and
accomplished statesman, holding an important office under the government, and
a worthy representive of his noble father.
The younger brother of His Majesty
is called the second king, and bears the
title of SoMDrT PJRA PAWARENDR KAMESR
MAHESWARESR PHRA PIN CLAU CIIAU YU
HUA.
IHe holds his own separate court, and
receives nearly the same homage as his
elder brother; and the two act so entirely
in concert, that the will of the one is regarded as sacred and absolute as the
other, though if any issue should unhappily arise, the will of thefirst king would,
of course, take precedence. The second
kihg is commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of the country, and
it is his duty to repel invasions, order the
appointments of the forts, levy troops,
&c., &c., &C.
Since he came into-,power he has en
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LJUNE