vii. 



' ON THE 



GOVERNMENT OF SIAM. 



. By Captain JAMES LOW, ' 



, • M. A. S. C. 



Note.— The prtbpgrapby of such words as are of Pali origin has been subjoined in foot notes with the 

 assistance of Mr. R. Paula, a Pali Scholar. Sec. 



The Government of Siam is monarchical and perfectly despotic in practice, 

 but in principle it affects to be regulated by strict impartiality and by 

 justice. 



At the head of the nation is the King, whose national designations are 

 Pliraya Thai, ' Lord of the Thai race,' or Kho-img Lo-ang, (the supreme 

 ruler.) He is also both the protector of the Phra Satsana Q) or Buddhist 

 faith, and the chief judge in the Empire, to whom ultimate appeals are 

 made from inferior judicial departments. He is not however the head of 

 the Church, the Hierarchy being under a Phrd Pkoottha-ong Q or high 

 priest, who merely regulates ecclesiastical discipline, without interfering in 

 matters of state. 



The King ought to be guided in his public conduct by his Phra 

 Maha Rachakhroo (^) or spiritual guide and his chief ministers ; and it is to 



(') Pali, Pra sdsana. Q) P. Pra Buddha angga. P. Pra mahd raja guru. 



