Chapter IX. 
MARRIAGE. 
Although from a view of the condition of the female sex in any 
country, we may not be enabled to infer the exact state of civiliza¬ 
tion to which its people have arrived; we must yet derive many aids 
from it for rightly appreciating their character. 
Where the institution of marriage exists in civilized life there is 
hardly any department of society in which its influence is unfelt, and 
on the other hand where it is acknowledged in the lower grades of 
civilization, it even imparts a glow of refinement to the intercourse of 
a semi-barbarous race. 
In Siam it partakes much more of a civil contract than of a reli- 
gious institution. It was originally entirely a civil affair, but at this 
day religious ceremonies are occasionally introduced. Polygamy is per¬ 
mitted to the fullest extent, but the poverty of the great bulk of the 
people materially counteracts the operation of this indulgence. The 
men marry, as before noticed, about the age of 16 or 20, and the wo¬ 
men fiom 14 upwards. The boys wear a lock of hair on the crown 
till of this age, when it is submitted to tonsure with much solemnity. 
The lock is termned hoa chok , 
hen a youth becomes attached to a girl, her parents are consult- 
I hree or four days arc allowed for preparations on the arrival of a foreign 
Envoy at Siam. He ought not to be seen abroad until presentation. At 
the audience, the King speaks first, and asks the following questions agree- 
abh to ancient custom. Ihese are, however, very comprehensive ones. 
hence have you arrived ? What is the distance hence to your country? 
What difficulties did you encounter on the way ? Are grain and other pro¬ 
visions cheap there, and is the region healthy ? Is your nation at war with 
any other nation, or does it enjoy repose ? The Envoy is not expected to 
reply at length to these queries, nor is the Siamese Court desirous of hear¬ 
ing diplomatic eloquence displayed before it. 
i he King does not appear in his regalia when he gives common audiences, 
and unless the Envoy happens to have been sent by a Court held in high es¬ 
timation and respect by the Siamese, he will not be honored with an oppor¬ 
tunity ot seeing His Majesty in crowned splendour. 
Ihe Siamese are assuredly ignorant of the value of time, and this circum¬ 
stance coupled with their pride and insufferable adherence to absurd eti¬ 
quette is frequently a cause of tbeir forgoing advantages within their reach 
lather than that they should appear over solicitous about the issue of a ne- 
gociation. 
