Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/20

 12 poru, amusement*, and ""H' 1 ' 1 * 8 ^ ore opened widely for merry muk ing t<>r m ,. n t making for them.M.Ues SI AM I llO ing 'I white roboa ami mi ,.nlir,. shaving of th." lu-ad. A lii.nt- ,.,, nll ., .! education is afforded gra- x at ihttimplittottomtlM, HOorO percent, of irhomwtd. Tin drwii w much ,ud dramatic, oompcniei are iit-, unwritten, simple, plaintive, and pleas- ing Bands of 1 t re- sembling Javanese, uiv a purl of 8Vn wcalt h y Oitablinhment. Uuudy and InOOngTtlOUl p;imt- ings, of rude pcrspect i vc, chiefly adorn 1 1" 1 tl "' plot. Tho medical art is in a tMtrUrOQI Nowhere else does Ituddhism hold so pmv ilM absolute a iwar as in Shun. It is of the Coy- loneao rather than Chiii.-o type. Tho wats or temples, resembling not tin- Chinese, but dis- tuntU tin- IL'piiau architecture, an- union},' -t bttttttfol and splendid in the East. ..... in va*t, choicely situated, |iavoil parks, with hite allsgloaming through t ho loaves, I and spurious domes and lofty j>ra- piTM, all painted and gilded and BMed, vocal with air-rung I'i'lN, mid n-spK'iid.'iit in the sunlik'ht. Ono i i-Mimaii-d to haw cost, .1 its paraphernalia, over $800,000. (Sen Mi-ions liavc IK-CII carried on hy .I.MI Catholics, under thn greatest vicis- ..ilinli-4, -'ine.- the iniddlo of the I C> h cc-ntnry. Tho ini-.ionaric.-4 are I-'rcnch, and their con- r.-ckoncd in 1^72 at 10,000 in Hi ,'itii'HH. At the head of the mission ,ir apostolic. Protestant missions date from tlio isits of (Jilt/.lalT, Toinlin, and Ahocl , and properly from the settlement of .Jones in 1833. Kepre>eiitaties of the American Baptist, missionary union, of the Presbyterian hoard of foreign missions, and of the American mis-i,.iuiry association have -hed several Protestant congregations, <. and religious papers. The numher of
 * art pining hOllMt TIM
 * vL r atii>iis in ls7i was l.'.l,

and of rri 1 - - In commerce Hang- n.l only to Calcutta and Canton in the far Mast ; hut monopolies, exor- bitant luti-H, and numlterless restrictions had well ii'u'hstitl.-d (iroiluction and l.ani-hed trade- till in . A ere negotiated for Great Hritain, tho 1'iiiti-d Stale*, and France, John Hovvring, Townseiid Harris, :m ,| M-intigny. The purchase of land '.allowed; the monopolies ami tonna-e duties are abolished; imports pay :; per cent in m Miey or kind, and export* one duty only, coord ,:T. In IKTll the numl.er i.t Siamese veweU entering tlu> port was 167, ton- nige55,04u ; |{.-it,*h M^tonnagt N,40( man Ifi, tonnage 4,731 ; French 1 |. . 1. tonnairc :;ss. ', arrivals in 1H73 were 886, tom clearance. 205, tonnage 97,21-J. The principal exports are rice, sugar, pepper, sosamum, sapan vood, hides, and cardamoms. Their total value n 1873 was about $4,000,000; that of tho imports. $4,000,000. The most important trade is that with China, carried on in junks built, and navigated by < IbineM. The junks leave the Mc- n am generally in Juno, returning in December. Hie tieal, a silver coin bearing the device of an elephant and weighing 230 grains troy, with bars of silver cut into pieces, stamped, and bent into an irregular oval, in value 7i, 16, and 00 cents, with cowries, form the cur- rency. Dollars are also current, though usually exchanged for silver ticals at the rate of three dollars for five ticals. The rate of interest is about 80 per cent. Tho inland trade is con- ducted chiefly by boats. Foreign steamers ply- between Bangkok and Singapore. The Uni- ted States and European treaty powers are represented by resident consuls at Bangkok. The government of Siara is theoretically a duarchy, practically a monarchy. While there is a second or vice king, tho first or senior king is actual sovereign. The crown is hered- itary, '"it without primogeniture, being be- lucathod, with tho sanction of princes and nobles, to any son of tho queen ; but intrigue and violence have often diverted tho succes- sion from the high royal line. A royal de- cree of May 8, 1874, announced that in future tho king would give important laws only after consulting the council of state and tho minis- try. Tho council of state comprises the first king as president, tho ministers, who have no vote, from 10 to 20 councillors, who have to draft now laws and from their own number elect a vice president, and six princes of the royal house. Any two members of tho council may submit a now law to the king. The min- istry (senabodi) consists of an honorary presi- dent, three ministers of the interior (of tho west, the north, and tho oast), and tho ministers of agriculture, justice, the royal house, and finance. The minister of finance may bo dis- missed at any time ; tho dismissal of any other minister rei|uires a sentence of the court. Tho country is divided into 41 provinces, each of which is governed by a phraya or council of tho first class. There are also several territo- ries which have their own princes, tributary to the king. The king is by title "sacred lord of heads," " possessor of all," and property and life are at his will, to bo taken at government al necessity or caprice ; but many considera- tions conspire to render a violent and arbi- trary exercise of this absolute power compar- atively unfrcquent. The queen consort, tho wife supremo among hundreds, must bo of native and royal blood, and she is rigidly kept from all possible intercourse, with an inferior of the other sex. She never becomes regent, or takes any part in political alVairs, but is treated with tho highest deference. She has a separate court, in which appear the prin- cesses, who, not alloe.l to marry beneath them, rarely marry at all. She has her fo-