173 
SIAM. 
Pegu have established a considerable colony in Siam, since 
their countries were ravaged by the Birmans. Here are also 
many Malays, and the ancient kings had a guard of Japanese, 
which exhibits, in a striking point of view, the intercourse 
that subsisted among oriental nations. 
With regard to the history of Siam, we shall content our¬ 
selves with observing, that previously to the Portuguese dis¬ 
coveries, this country was unknown to Europeans. Accord¬ 
ing to Loubere’s account, the first king of the Siamese com¬ 
menced his reign in the year 1300 of their epoch, or about 
756 years after the Christian era. Since the Portuguese dis¬ 
covery, their wars with Pegu, and occasional usurpations of 
the throne, constitute the principal topics of their history. 
In 1568 the Peguese king declared war on account of two 
white elephants, which the Siamese refused to surrender: and 
after prodigious slaughter on both sides, Siam became tribu¬ 
tary to Pegu: but about the year 1620, Raja Hapi delivered 
his crown from this servitude. In 1680, Phalcon, a Greek ad¬ 
venturer, being highly favoured by the king of Siam, opened 
an intercourse with France, for the purpose of supporting his 
ambitious designs; but they were punished by his decapita¬ 
tion in 1689, and the French connection was thus terminated. 
From Turpin, who has extended the history of Siam to the 
year 1770, we learn, that the first king began to reign about 
1444 years before Christ, and that he had forty successors be¬ 
fore the epoch of the Portuguese discovery, or the year 1546, 
many of whom were precipitated from the throne on account 
of their despotism. Nevertheless, as these forty kings cannot 
be supposed to have reigned more than ten years each, at a 
mean computation, the first historical date cannot ascend 
beyond the year 1100 after Christ, instead 1444 years before 
Christ. One of the most remarkable events, after the French 
had evacuated Siam, is the war against the kingdom of Cam¬ 
bodia, which was reduced to the necessity of seeking the pro¬ 
tection Of Cochin-china. The Siamese army, having ad¬ 
vanced too far into the country, was destroyed by famine; 
and their fleet, though it destroyed the town of Ponteamas, 
with 200 tons of elephant’s teeth, had little success. In 1760 
a signal revolution happened in Siam, preceded by violent 
civil wars between two rival princes. According to Turpin’s 
statement, the Birmans, a people of the kingdom of Ava, had 
in 1754, languished five years under the Peguese domination. 
Having lost by death their king, queen, and most of their 
princes, they lamented their humiliation and servitude, and 
anxiously sought for a deliverer. With this view they selected 
one of their companions, named Manlong, a gardener, who, 
singularly qualified for the office they devolved upon him, 
by corporeal and mental endowments, undertook to rescue 
them from the yoke of tyrants, on condition of their cutting 
off the heads of all the little subaltern tyrants whom the Pe¬ 
guese had sent to oppress them. They readily submitted to 
his terms ; and after the massacre, Manlong was proclaimed 
king. Having prepared a force, and established a discipline 
which rendered the Birmans almost invincible, he began by 
the capture and complete ruin of the city and port of Siriam, 
which took place about the year 1759 : and advancing 
to Martavan and Travail, the new monarch received infor¬ 
mation of the riches of Siam, and formed the design of its 
conquest. He began by sending 30 ships to pillage the cities 
of Merghi and Tanaserim, and this success led him to flatter 
himself that he should be able, with great ease, to subdue the 
whole kingdom of Siam. The court of Siam, hearing of 
this irruption, sent to the bishop of Tabraca, to request that 
he would arm the Christians, who amounted only to the 
number of 100, and yet acquitted themselves with greater 
honour than the pusillanimous multitude. The Birman so¬ 
vereign, being at the distance of three days’ march from 
Yuthia, the capital, died in consequence of an abscess. The 
suburbs, however, on the Dutch quarter were ravaged and 
burnt; and the surrounding country was exposed to a thou¬ 
sand cruelties. The death of Manlong delivered the Siamese 
capital; the youngest of his sons having assumed the sceptre 
found himself under the necessity of regaining his own king¬ 
dom, in order to stifle any revolt. The Siamese sovereign, 
however, having rashly pronounced a sentence of death 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1562. 
against the favourite of his brother, was forced to abdicate the 
throne; and in consequence of this event he became a Tala- 
poin, or monk, in May 1762, and many of his nobles fol¬ 
lowed his example. Siam remained in a state of security, 
upon the report that the new prince of the Birmans had been 
dethroned upon his return to Ava; and that his elder brother 
who had succeeded, had no wish to make conquests. This 
pacific monarch dying suddenly, a pretence of war was af¬ 
forded by the assistance which the Siamese had given to a 
rebel Birman governor. In January 1765, the Birmans at¬ 
tacked Merghi and took it; and then proceeded to Tana¬ 
serim, which they reduced to ashes. Flushed with success, 
the general of the Birmans marched against Yuthia, not 
doubting that the conquest of the capital would induce 
other cities to submit. The provinces on the north-west of 
the royal city were ravaged; and the inhabitants saved 
themselves from death or slavery by dispersion into forests, 
where they participated the food of wild beasts. The Sia¬ 
mese, threatened with speedy and total destruction, reunited 
their forces; but though they fought with ardour, their san¬ 
guinary defeat subjected their country to the power of their 
conqueror. The fields, ravaged by the consuming flames, 
presented nothing to them but ashes, and famine becanrte 
more terrible than war. The victorious Birmans built, at the 
confluence of two rivers, a town, or rather a fortified station, 
which they called Michoug. The Siamese, on their part at¬ 
tempted to fortify the capital, and earnestly solicited the 
assistance of two English vessels which happened to arrive. 
The captain of one of them consented to defend the capital, 
on condition of being supplied with cannon and ammuni¬ 
tion : but the jealous Siamese insisted that he should first 
lodge his merchandizes in the public magazine. With this 
condition he complied, and going on board his ship, har- 
rassed the enemy, and destroyed their forts, so that every 
day was marked either by defeat or flight. But demanding 
more ammunition, the dastardly court became afraid, that the 
English captain, with his single ship, would conquer this an¬ 
cient monarchy. Its indignant captain withdrew, after 
seizing six Chinese vessels, whose officers received from him 
orders upon the king of Siam to the amount of the merchan¬ 
dizes which had been lodged in the public treasury. Upon 
his retreat, the Birmans, finding no opposition, spread uni¬ 
versal desolation, and consigned even their temples to the 
flames. Instead of recurring to arms, the superstitious mo¬ 
narch and his ministers reposed their whole confidence in 
their magicians. A Siamese prince, indeed, who had been 
banished to Ceylon, raised a little army, and returned to the 
assistance of his country ; but the distracted court of Siam 
sent forces to oppose their deliverer. Many of the Siamese, 
justly provoked by this conduct, joined the Birmans, who in 
March, 1766, again advanced, after having been repulsed by 
the English captain, to within two leagues of the capital. In 
September, 1766, the Birmans seized a high tower, at the dis¬ 
tance of about a quarter of a mile from the city, and raised 
a battery of cannon, which gave them an absolute command 
of the river. In this state of urgent danger, 6000 Chinese 
were charged with the defence of the Dutch factory, and of 
a large adjacent temple. The Birmans, in consequence of 
previous skirmishes and a subsequent assault, seized on five 
considerable temples, which they converted into fortresses ; 
but in another assault they were compelled to retire. The 
Siamese officers, eager to secure the magazines of gram, as a 
future resource, produced an immediate famine ; which, fol¬ 
lowed by a contagious disorder or pestilence, occasioned the 
most dreadful devastation. The Dutch factory was in vain 
defended by the Portuguese and Chinese; and after a siege 
of eight days, it was taken and reduced to ashes. The whole 
Christian quarter of the city shared the same fate; and the 
virgins were obliged to marry the first young men that pre¬ 
sented themselves, in order to be protected by the matrimo¬ 
nial tie, which the Birmans reverence. The Birmans, de¬ 
manding an unconditional surrender, assaulted the city, and 
captured it on the 28th of April, 1767. The wealth of the 
palaces and temples was consumed by the flames, or aban¬ 
doned by the soldiery; the golden idols were melted, and the 
2 Y victors. 
