Show the two kings of siam sir john bowring in ili the account of his mission to siam gives an interesting description of the two kings for there are aro two of that country ir persons who know little of the state slate of this fin fine country wil will ai be s surprised to learn tha the first eing king is we well weil ve versed r sed eed in the works of euclid and newton that he writes and speaks english with tolerable accuracy that he lie is a proficient in latin and has acquired the sanskrit Sans crit Cill galese and pagan language s that lie he can project and calculate eclipses of the sun and moon and lions eions bf of the planets that lie he is fond cfall branches of I 1 learning and science that bebas he has introduced a printing prin ting jing press with siamese and english types and opt that his ills palace alid table are supplied with all the elegan cies of european life he lived twenty seven years in retire retirement dent before lie he came to the throne and during that time tima he acquired the accomplishments which make his reign a memorable and most beneficial era in siamese history lie ile was born b arn in 1804 1604 and is now consequently fifty three the second king lils liis his ills brother appears to be equally estimable my intercourse with the second king was in all respects most agreeable I 1 found him a gentleman of very cultivated understanding quiet even modest in manners willing to communicate knowledge and earnest in the search of instruction his table was spread with all the neatness and order that are found ili in a well regulated english household A favorite child sat on oil his ills knee whose mother remained crouched at the door of tile the apartment but took no pait in iii the llon tion tile king played to his guests very prettily oil on the pipes of the laos portable organ ile he had a variety of music and there was an exhibition of national sports and pastimes equestrian feats elephant combats and other amusements but what seemed most to interest the king was his museum of models nautical and philo philosophical ophic al instruments and a variety of scientific and other curiosities these kings reign each in prescribed limits in perfect th harmony armony this double monarchy is an old institution of siam and is popular with the people the siamese by the tiie tho report of the author are an amiable and intelligent race with a high degree of civilization in all that relates to social institutions he ile relates a conversation which an engli englishman had with the minister for foreign affairs in which ane latter showed by far the keenest appreciation of the sources of En glands greatness his commenced the conversation by asking the reasons and of the hie present war between the english and the Rus russians jans this at great his excellency e x himself as perfectly satisfied both as to the propriety and aud justice ot of the war his excellency celle ceile cel cei lency liev then asked ih how ow the E english who lio llo iio inhabit such s ril cil a li small smail part of the surface of the earth have conquered the whole of india and ond have made themselves vs feared and respected in every part of ll 11 a e globe I 1 assigned as the reason ast 1 1st I st their inguar position them less liable to invasion inva sign at home permitted them thiem to u undertake greater griter enie enterprises abroad secondly that thai the english arme art descendants of or saxons normans and celts belts and ana that while we Q have inherited many of their bad qualities we vie have also inherited and amalgamated the various styles of valor for which thio thosa nations were sa so famous viz viz the norman im impetuosity the celtic enthusiasm and the sa saxon solidity having asi thought given a very sufficient reason I 1 was much surprised to hear his excellency burst hurst out indignantly and with a fluency that gave me lle ile lie the greatest grea greatest iest difficulty in following him and aud although in general neither llis bis form nor features appear calculated to express much feeling yet et as lie he warmed with the subject lie he really seemed to become another mail man I 1 give his general meaning meo mec ining as far as either mr hunter or myself can recollect no it is is neither their position advantageous as it doubtless is nor tile the men though brave as a lions that has raised them to their present position other nations havo had bad the same opportunities in situation and have had brave soldiers yet they never h held heid ald aid their ground like the english itis it is their Govern government government men that admirable form of administration which la is held la in equal balance by the king by the ii nobles obies by the people that government ili in which every man feels that he has a certain share that country in ili which he lie feels that his interest is is cared for these are the things that enable a man to fight the man roan with a free s spirit ir 1 will dare things that would appal a slave stave can ca it be good that a few should legislate for all ali aln alp look at tile the laos country there each dis district trici chooses one ician man to become a member of the council of six these are the advisers of ortha the king kink add add and without their sanction the tile king can do nothing but still lie he is entitled to dissent consider tile the consequences the king and council vote for war every man hastens lia lla to be the first to show ills his faith iii ili in the opinions of the ilia council Ther eyou can sleep without thinking of shutting or barring a door while herd berd you ou must watch every thing with the greatest care card and sv en then you are not safe saoe we have hitherto given all the power to the nobles and what are rewel wei wet letus let us give a little to the people and try wl whether ether we shall not improve let us not am lave e our ministers appointed for life lire let them be elected for a term of years 5 ears and let their election depend upon tile the voice voica of tho the people tile the more we mix with the tiie english the sooner will our people feel that they have a right to have havo some kolep voice in the framing of laws lane by which they are to be governed arld and if they do assert that right who ho will vv ill lii oppose them we afave hav e no regular army a few slaves of the king take that name but they would not fight against their fellows allows the people profess tha the faith pf af budday und and nd seem affectionately though bigotedly not attached to it they are willing g to engage ili in controversy with our missionaries und and show much in their arguments the author relates 1 I found no indisposition mal mai position among the siamese to discuss religious questions and the general result of the discussions was your religion is is excellent for yoland 5 buind ours is is excellent for us all ali countries do not produce the same fruits and flowers and we find various various religions suited to various nations the present king is so bo tolerated that he lie gave gava slaves prisoners of war to be taught religion 11 glon gion by the catholic missionaries saiying ing ng you may make christians of these people pe I 1 dallego ix the catholic bish bishop op is a great favorite his majesty reports several conversations with the first king which does honor lionor to his liberal spirit persecution Peise cution is is hateful he lie stid sad every man ought to be free to profess the religion he prefers pre feis fels and ho he added if you ou convert a certain number of people anywhere let me know you v ou have llave done so and I 1 will v iti ill give them a Cin istian gov arnor and they shall not be annoyed by siamese authorities 3 J hav have e a letter from the tile king in la which lie he davs that in the inquiries into the abstruse subject of the godhead we cannot tell who is right and who is wrong but I 1 will pray my god to give you yon his lils blessing androu and you must pray tob our god to bless me and so blessings may descend upon both the F first arst king is is favorable to the extension of commerce in his dominions peter could lot not have beater illustrated the ad advantages vantages of commerce than did his hs majesty in a few pithy sentences he illustrated ills his view by the he following allegory two men start from the tile jungle loaded with the coarse article it produces the fabres fibres cf of tile the hemp bemp for example they move onward and come to a place where is 13 more valuable material as a cotton the foolish lind and u ora ova ble man persists in carrying his coarse and ard unprofitable pro burden of hemp his wiser companion exchanges ills his hemp for the finer and more valuable I 1 material nat erial they still move on and come to a silk district tile the fool sticks to his hemp the wise wise barters his ilia cotton for silk and thus they reach the end of their journey one exhausted with P carrying a rr i g an ail almost worthless and heavy load the other t h r 1 inc ing I 1 f brought with ease a profitable and valuable ii ini vestment |