& ra
ROGRESi
t iG eo-
GR. A F.-H-Y ■
Hiftorical
Epochs.
' Some faint notices xbncerning .Siam >raay- probablyflbe&ir -fer.tfte-
oriental geographers.of the middle ; ages.; but fueli enquiries, are more
proper for an :^,tt<pafian cUfierfation.- Suffice it to obfenfe that, fill the
Portuguefe difcoveries, Siam may be laid to have? remained Snk-nowh
to Europeans. In the middle' of the feventeenth,-century Mandelflo,*
©r his tranflator Wicquefort, has : compiled^a.{.tolerable account of
Jjhis country; but the French defcriptipns prefent more precision of
knowledge,, as well as more extent of information. By the latter was
firft reformed a Angular error in the geography, which deduced the
great, rivers of Ava, Pegu, and Siam from V- large inland',lak^-cs*Hed
Ghiamai, in lat. 30« -while Tibet is placed in lat. 40°r .Xh’is^grofs
error perhaps arofc from the report that the fmall river of Pegu 'rifesan
a lake about lat. 210. But on comparing- the maps'of Afia, in theie-
ginning of laft centuiy, and even thaLof .China and the'-F&ff Indies dn
the Amftqrdam edition of Mandelflo,. 1718, the reader will be fenfible
of the great progrefs of geography in recent times. 1
The Siamefe hiftory is impe|fea,;imd T6ei»
epoch is derived from, the pretended difparition of their god. Sommona
Codam (or Boodh); and the chriftian year 1689:-correfponded with
their 2.233d.3 Yet by Loubere’s account their firft king-began to reign
in the year 1300 of their, epbch, or about 736 years after the Chriftian-
era. Wars with Pegu, and occafional ufurpations of ..the throne, I o n .
liitute the hinges o f Siamefe hiftory fince. the Portuguefe. difeovery. I,n,
r568 the Peguefe king declared -war on account of two white-elephants
which the Siamefe refufed to furrender; and after prodigious daughter,
©n both fides Siam became tributary to Pegu. But about 1-620 Raja
Hapi delivered his crown from this Servitude.* In 168.0. Phalcon,.
a-Gyeek adventurer, being highly favoured by'the-king of Siam, opened-
an intercourfe with France, in the view of fupporting his ambitious-
defigns ‘r but they were puniftied by his decapitation in 1689, and the
French connection ceafed in confequence. The latter events of Siame fe;.
hiftory may partly be traced in that of the Birman empire.'
2 CoL 30 4 -3 3 ,.. . 3 Loubere, . 4 Mandelflo, 322..
' C H A P T E R fi. '
,ÏTö liF if io lA y c i: , ■' G e o g r a p h k .
Religign.— Government.— Laws.— Population. —Army.— Navy.—^Revenues.
fipht'tqal Importance. ,,
THE religion'of the Siamefe* like thatr o f the Birmans,, refembles Relig
‘ -that? of-" thé' Hinftbof. jf and tjae tranfmigration o f fouls forms an
efiential part of the doftrine. Sommona Codam, mentioned by Loubere
as the thief idol o f Siam, is interpreted by'competent judgps.to.be the'"
feme with the :Boo'dli of Hindoftan? ®The facreS language éatiêll Bali is
of the fame origin;, apd Lpubere has published a traufktion o f a Siamefe
l'egfet$l in 'that temguel The móft efteeméd book feems the Yinac; and,
the precepts of morality are chiefly five. i. Not'to kill. Not to fteal.
3. Not to commit unclèannefs 4. Not to lye. 5. Not to drink any intoxi-
eating liquor.1 Compared with the precepts of Mofes, thofe againft idols
are of courfe unknown j ;nor is any particular day of the week declared fa-
cred. Vain fwearing, and falfe-teftimöny are alfo omitted; nor is there any
command to pay due refpeftto parents, or to avoid covetoufucfs. But in
ihe univerfal' code of morality murder and theft are efteemed preeminent
crimes; the firft being irreparable. Loubere has alfo given
a tranRation of a more minute code of morals, chiefly compiled for thé
ufe of thé perfons dedicated to religion, whom he names Talapoiüs.
In the Bir-man empire.the high prieft is called the- Seredaw, whife
the term for an inferior prieft is Rhahanf . Loubere has entered into
confiderable details- concerning ,the prrefts and monks of Siam, whom
he calls' Talhpoins, though he add .thatS the native, term is Tchaou.cou ;•
, 1 Symes, ii. 319 ®i. Loubere, 1.381.
*K«mpfer, 1. 63, fays the young monks are ftyled Dfiaunces, and the old.Dfiaukus: the
nuns Nank.tfiji. j
4 . and