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SIAM AND LAOS
SIAM AND LAOS,
AS SEEN BY
OUR AMERICAN MISSIONARIES.
“Siam has not been disciplined by English and French guns, like China,but the country has been opened by missionaries.”—Remark of His Gracethe late Ex-Regent of Siam.
FULLY ILLUSTRATED.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
No. 1334 CHESTNUT STREET.
COPYRIGHT, 1884, BY
THE TRUSTEES OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Westcott & Thomson,
Stereotypers and Electrotypers, Philada.
PREFACE.
This volume is a response to calls for informationon Siam and Laos. A score of missionarieshave contributed chapters. Some havewritten amidst conflicting claims of the crowdedfield-life; others, during brief visits to the home-land;several are children of missionaries andwere born in Indo-China; others are noble pioneerworkers, whose long years of service abroadare now ended. A few of the chapters originallyappeared in a missionary periodical. Two of thewriters have “entered into rest.” The editor ismuch indebted also to the standard works ofPallegoix, Bowring, Crawford, Mouhot and severalmore recent travelers, to geographical papersand official reports, and to valuable original datafurnished by Dr. House, Dr. Cheek and others.
Adaptation and necessary condensation of theinformation thus gathered make special creditoften impossible, but doubtful points have beenverified by reference to competent authority, sofar as practicable.
The contributions of our missionaries have specialvalue. For years they have been broughtinto close contact with the people in their homes,schools, wats and markets, mingling as honoredguests in social gatherings and at official ceremonials,enjoying full opportunity of studyingthe natives at work, at play and at worship. Asteachers, physicians, translators and trusted counselorsthey are recognized as public benefactorsby the king and many high officials. Siam owesthe introduction of printing, European literature,vaccination, modern medical practice, surgeryand many useful mechanical appliances toour American missionaries. They have stimula