The Bangkok Recorder.

A Weekly journal will be issued from the
printing office of the American Missionary
Association, at the mouth of the Canal,
"Klawng Bangkok Yai" It will contain such
Political, Literary, Scientific, Commercial, and
local intelligence, as shall render it worthy
of the general patronage.

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dents subject to the usual restrictions.

The proprietor will not be responsible
for the sentiments of his correspondents.

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less accompanied by the name of the Cor-
respondent.

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unless as a special favor.

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TRACTS.

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sent to the subscriber, or left at the store of
Messrs. Virgin & Co.

President Johnson and the
Pardon Seekers.

At the President's reception on
Tuesday, some fifty Southerners were
present, most of them seeking pardons.
A Mr. Keitt, of South Carolina, (not
Lawrence M., he having been killed by
a loyal bullet at Fort Wagner,) ap-
proached the President, and informed
him that he desired a pardon. "What
have you done ?" asked Mr. Johnson.
"I opposed secession until my State
decided to go out of the Union, and
then I determined to go out with it—
I never joined the army. I did noth-
ing to bring on the rebellion," was the
reply. "You," rejoined the President,
"are like all the rest: you did noth-
ing. Now," he added, "my experi-
ence is, that the men who didn't join the
rebel army, but who acquiesced in the
rebellion, were the most mischievous
and dangerous men we had. I cannot
pardon you, Sir." Mr. Keitt made se-
veral other efforts. Among other things
he reminded the President that he had
come all the way from South Carolina
and had been in Washington sometime;
that hotel living here was very high,
and that altogether his daily expenses
were extravagantly large, and that he
would like to get away as soon as he
could go. The President responded
that the hardships of which he com-
plained were the direct results of the
rebellion; that he did not bring it on,
or contribute to bring on the rebellion;
that he was not responsible for and
could not extricate Mr. Keitt from the
difficulties he complained of, nor hast-
en his pardon on account of them.
The President was firm. His answer
was a finality. Exit Keitt. A Mr.
Birch, member of the late rebel Leg-
islature of Virginia, next approached
the President and applied for a pardon.
Similar questions were put to him by
the President as were asked Mr. Keitt.

From the answers it appeared that
Birch did nothing, only as a member
of the Virginia Legislature, in obedi-
ence to instructions, he voted that
Virginia should secede from the Union
of the United States. That is all he
did, that was—" nothing." The Pre-
sident refused to pardon him. (Exit
Birch)—Next came a rebel clergyman
who asked the President to grant him
a pardon. "What great sin have you
committed that you come here in cle-
rical robes and crave Executive par-
don?" "I was a rebel," was the an-
swer, "and I desire your Excellency
to pardon me that I may be restored
to citizenship and be able to support and
live under the government of the
United States." "You rebel preach-
ers," responded the President, "have
done the government a great deal of
harm. You have proclaimed devilish
doctrines and misled the people. You
forgot that it was your duty to yield
obedience to the powers that be.
You must rest awhile upon the stool of
repentance. I decline to grant you
pardon at present." Exit reb, clergy-
man. The President then remarked,
addressing the entire crowd in the
room, that it was a little singular that
most of the non-combatants who had
come here from the South for pardon,
assert that they did nothing, were op-
posed to the rebellion at the begin-
ning, only acquiesced, and thought the
rebel government ought to have sur-
rendered earlier and stopped bloodshed;
yet none of them took advantage of
the amnesty proclamation offered by
Mr. Lincoln, an act which would have
shown sincerity on their part, and
contributed so much toward saving
the enormous expense of life and
treasure. "I will grant no pardons
for the present," was the emphatic
conclusion of the President, and turn-
ing to Col. Browning, he directed him
to issue the order to the Attorney
General.—-Lorian County News.

The Crops of 1865.

The report of the Agricultural Bu-
reau for August is issued; but the re-
turns from correspondents in relation
to the crops, are only up to 31st July.
Calculations are, however, made from
the data received, and the result arrived
at is that the crop of 1865 will fall
short more than twenty-six millions of
bushels of that of 1864. The esti-
mate is thus quoted ;

In the New England and Middle
States, the loss is put down at 2,376,954
by heavy straw and too rapid ripen-
ing. In the Western and Northwestern
States, on account of rain, rust, and
chinch-bug combined, the loss is put
down at 2,864,744 bushels.

Rye and barley, it is stated, show
fair crops, but not so good as could be
desired. Oats are pronounced the best
crop ever produced. Corn is very prom-
ising, but there is apprehension of in-
jury from weeds in late planted fields
and bottoms subject to overflow. Sor-
ghum is represented as an average yield.
Potatoes look well, and promise heavy
crops. Tobacco is looking badly in
Kentucky on low lands, but well on
rolling ground. Flax is slightly in-
creased crop. Hay had been well har-
vested in the Eastern and Middle
States, and much injured in the
Western.

Tobacco is the only crop that shows
a general falling off, and the reason for
this is alleged to be the heavy internal
taxes on the manufactured article, and
the apprehension of a tax on the raw
material. The States this year which
have planted a larger amount of land
in this staple than last, are stated to be
Maine, Rhode Island, Ohio, Michigan,
Missouri, Minnesota, and West Vir-
ginia; New Hampshire is equal to last
year's planting, and all the rest under.
The report sums up the English
news relative to the crops on that side
of the ocean in this wise : “ Oats, beans
and peas will be short, but the hay is
abundant, and excellent, and the crop
of potatoes promise a large yield. A
good deal of old wheat will be found
unthreshed and unsold among the far-
mers, so that if the harvests are safely
gathered no unusual, supplies will be
needed.” The accounts from Europe
indicate that it will not have the usual
surplus to compete with this country
in the markets of Great Britain.—Lo-
rian County News.

Spots on the Sun.

SIR,-—Your correspondent ' F. K. G.'
seems solicitous of some information
regarding a spot now visible on the
sun's surface. I would therefore beg
to offer the following facts regarding
this spot, which may be of interest to
many of your readers.

This spot is not any of extraordinary
magnitude. Spots such as this are of
frequent occurrence, but the active
disturbance and constant change
which have taken place in this spot
during the past few days have been
very remarkable. To those of your
readers who are not familiar with the
nature of these so called sun spots,' I
would remark that the term spot, is
rather an unhappy one; it gives the
impression of being a mark on a flat
surface: This is not the case. It is
really an enormous hollow, with slop-
ing sides, penetrating entirely through
the photosphere of the sun, the black
part, or ' umbra,' being at the bottom,
and is supposed to be the real body
of the sun.

On September 28th this black part of
the spot was rather more than 9,000
miles in length, while the greatest
length of the penumbra, formed by the
sloping sides, or penumbra, was about
29,000 miles. These sides were very
deeply furrowed from top to bottom,
very similar to watercourses cut by
the torrents in descending steep slopes
of a mountain. The sides terminated
to the bottom in long narrow promon-
tories of luminous matter, stretching
on to the umbra something like a comb
having thick teeth. The ends of these
promontories frequently broke off in
detached roundish pieces, which floated
away towards the centre of the um-
bra, and in some cases became dif-
fused and disappeared in the course
of half an hour or more. These chang-
es were very rapid on the morning of
the 28th of September. One of these
promontories I roughly measured to
be fully 1,000 miles long. On the
morning of the 30th of September
similar changes were taken place with
great rapidity, so much so that in two
or three hours the shape of the spot
had greatly altered the main part of
the umbra had extended to about 11,-
000 miles in length, while the penum-
bra had shortened to about 24,000
miles.

In small telescopes the umbra of a
sun spot appears to be black, but in
the powerful telescopes this is found
not to be the case. In the present
instance the umbra was covered with
a thin mottled luminous stratum, ex-
cept in one place, where it was appa-
rently quite black, a fact that very
generally occurs in these spots, and
this part is termed the nucleus.

On October 2nd I found that the spot
had rotated on its centre about 30 deg
since September 28th. This very singu-
lar fact has been before observed by
the Rev. W. R. Dawes, the well
known observer.

In conclusion, I would further draw
the attention of your readers to the
great magnetic storm which occurred
a short time since during the laying
down of the Atlantic telegraph cable.
During this strom a very remarkable
group of spots broke out in the sun's
photosphere, and the termination of
this storm about coincided with the
disappearance of this group from the
sun's disc. It is well known that dis-
turbances on the sun are intimately
connected with the magnetic forces on
the earth; on this occasion the group
consisted of about 14 spots or umbra,
all included in one penumbra: the
greatest length of this penumbra was
rather more than 50,000 miles. I beg
to remain, Sir, yours, obediently.

Evening Mail.

Cash better than Lash.

The assertion that the negro will
not work except under the stimulus of
the lash is repeated every day by a hun-
dred Northern presses; hence the im-
portence of facts such as the following:
Charles F. Whitelaw emigrated from
Massachusetts to Mississippi in 1859,
settling near Aberdeen. He believed
that hired was better than compulsory
labor, but was not an Abolitionist, as
is evident from the fact that he bought
slaves to work his land. Immediate-
ly after the collapse of the Rebellion
he called his slaves together, acknow-
ledged their freedom and offered to pay
the men $15, the women $8,33 per
month, and the boys a proportionate
sum, if they would stay by him. He
also hired other negroes from the neigh-
boring plantations. His farm embraced
1,000 acres, of which 700 were cleared.
It was late in the season, but he prepar-
ed to raise a larger crop than ever; and
says a correspondent of the Chicago
Tribune, who visited the place, "today
(Aug. 12), as the product of the labor
of 50 free laborers, he has over 600
acres of cotton, while each negro has
his garden of sweet potatoes, corn and
other truck around his cabin—-Mr.
Whitelaw having assigned each one an
acre of ground free from rent." He
had been compelled to discharge one-
hand, and one only during the sea-
son. The rest had labored faithfully
and steadily. Few of them were wo-
men, the men preferring that their
wives should not work in the field,
but take care of the house and children.

Mr Whitelaw will probably make
for the labor of each man, the present
year a sum equal to his value as a
slave five years ago.

One would suppose that such an
experiment as this, under the very
eyes of the former slaveholders, would
subdue their prejudice and convince
them of the superiority of free la-
bor. But Mr Whitelaw says thay are
incorrigible, and that the only hope of
Southern regeneration is in the enter-
prise and capital of Northern men.
The old slave-masters would rather
starve as idle "gentlemen" than thrive
as bursy workmen.—-N. Y. Indepen-
dent.

MR. EDITOR.

I was glad to notice in your last issue,
that His Excellency the Prime Minister
had determined to build at Anghin, a
"SANITARIUM" for the use of invalid
European, and American residents in
Siam. His Excellency is certainly under
no obligations to the foreign community,
and it is to be hoped that any such free
will offering will be duly appreciated by
them. There is one thing however which
I desire to bring to the notice of the gov-
ernment officials. It is a well known fact
that when persons desire to take a tour
through the country, and ask letters from
the Foreign department to that effect, the
letters of different persons, have quite
a different effect in obtaining for them
the things which they need. Some who
start out find governors of provinces and
others ready to serve them at every step
they advance, whilst others, can scarcely
obtain the necessaries of life. For ins-
tance, some time since two gentlemen
were desirous of visiting a distant tribu-
tory kingdom; but knowing the impos-
sibility of doing so without peremptory
orders from the authorities here, thy ac-
cordingly obtained from the Foreign de-
partment what they supposed to be such
orders, and they started out upon there
journey. After about three weeks of hard
rowing they arrived at a certain stopping
place, and they presented there letter to
the governor.

After reading the letter, he says "you are
at perfect liberty to pass on your journey.
But how were they to go? They asked
him for elephants, but he had none. They
could not even buy a food, [..] of
rice. They were completely at their wit's
end, and apparently at the end of their
journey. They however, became desperate
and told the governor that they would
go, and if he did not grant them the
privileges of transport, or otherwise, they
would start and walk to their place of
destination; an undertaking which would
have been extremely hazardous. At
length, however, a arrangements, or other-
wise, upon his own responsibility put
them through to the end of their journey.
Others have started on similar journeys,
and when they arrived at a certain stage,
they were obliged to come back. True
the nature of the presents given on the
way has much to do with the treatment
received. A box of gin has a marvellous
effect, even upon governors, in this coun-
try; but the insertion of one little word
by the authorities here, would have a
much greater effect. Some short time since
a company were desirous of stopping some
time at Anghin, and as there were ladies
in the company, they asked permission to
occupy a house there, which foreigners
had been in the habit of occupying.
When they presented their letter to the
chief in authority, he said the house was
occupied by Chinese workmen, and he
had no orders to put them out. He said
there was a large open sala there, which
they could occupy. This looked rather
more inviting than a house which had
been so lately occupied by filthy China-
men, so the visitors agreed to occupy it,
if he would give them something to en-
close it in, and make it comfortable, which
he agreed to do. The next morning he
sent down five small squares of matting,
to enclose a large sala; and asked on
which side they would have it. They
replied that it was not half enough, and
that European ladies could not occupy it
unless it was wholly enclosed. His reply
was, that it was all he could give. They
therefore were obliged to return home.
Now I would like to bring before the
officials the necessity of treating all Eu-
ropeans and Americans, whose character
at all warrants it, alike in this matter.
They demand it and will have it. The
authorities must learn not to make "fish
of one and flesh of another." Some ar-
rangement should also be made either
here, or at the place by which a reasonable
or even liberal price could be paid for
these things.

A TRANSLATION
FROM A ROYAL DOCUMENT RECENTLY
ISSUED,

Princes and Princesses accounted as
suitable subjects for receiving the high
honors of the extraordinary Tonsure cer-
emonies, are briefly–the younger brother
or brothers of the king by the same
mother, named Somdeteli [?] Pra Chöw nawng
ya t’ö chöw-fa. Also the celestial sons or
daughters of the king called Somdeteli [?]
Pra Chöw löök t’ö Chöw fa-–also the
nephews and nieces of the king who are
born of parents both of whom are princes
of high rank.

But it is necessary to be more explicit.
When a new dynasty is established, the
elder and younger brothers and sisters of
the new king are denominated respect-
ively P’ra Chöw P’eè-ya, P’ra Chöw Nawng
ya, P’ra Chöw P’eè-nang, and P’ra Chöw
nawng nang. These several princes and
princesses who are full brothers and sis-
ters of the king become respectively
Somdeteli [?] P’ra Chöw Nawng-yat’ö,
Somdeteli [?] P’ra Chöw P’eè nang t’ö and
Somdeteli [?] P’ra Chöw nang t’ö. But the
brothers and sisters of the king by a
different mother can be promoted to
such rank by the special favor of the
king. The children of the king which
he had by his queen or by his chief wife
before he came to the throne are all de-
nominated Somdeteli [?] P’ra Chöw löök t’ö
Chöw fa both male and female. The chil-
dren of the king by a Chawm manda–-or
a wife who was not a princess are not
Chöwfa–or celestial princes–-but only
P’ra-Ong-Chöws. But if the mother be
a distant blood relative of the king, or
be a child of a king of a small neighbor-
ing nation, or be a child of a nobleman
or ruler who had obtained extraordinary
favor from the king, such children can
be made or constituted Chöwfas, or cel-
estial princes, if the king be pleased to
have them thus promoted. The persons
titled P’ra Chöw liàn t’ö are the sons and
daughters of the second king. If their
mother be promoted to a Chöwfa, they
also take the same title.

The full younger sister of the king de-
nominated Somdeteli P’ra Chöw nawng
nang t’ö Chöwfa ying, and the celestial
daughter of the king called Somdeteli [?]
P’ra Chöw löök t’ö Chöwfa ying, when
either of them becomes the wife of the
great king, or of the 2nd king, or of a
prince who has been appointed to a sta-
tion of trust, or of a prince without any
such tie who is a Chöwfa or only P’ra
Ong Chöw, the son or daughter of a
woman bearing such relations becomes a
Chöwfa following the mother; but the
rank of honor is only equal to that of
P’ra Ong Chöw who is the P’ra ong Chöw
liàn t’ö as the Somdeteli P’ra Chöw liàn t’ö,
with a rank equal to the P’ra ong Chöw
who is the P’ra Chöw löök t’ö or son of
the king.

From ancient times to the present, the
sons and daughters of the supreme king
as well as of the second king born of
mothers that were Chöwfas or that were
P’ra Ong Chöws, all become Chöwfas or
celestial princes. But if the mother be
only a Màwm Chöw, or the daughter of
a great nobleman, or of a king of some
neighboring nation, the children of such
parentage become only P’ra Chöw löök
t’ö, or P’ra Ong Chöw löök t’ö, or P’ra
Ong Chöw, until the supreme king shall
be pleased to promote them to the grade
of Chöwfa, which may be done.

The children of the 3rd king both sons
and daughters born of the wife having
the honors of a princess, become only
P’ra Ong Chöws, until the mother be
promoted to the grade of Chöwfa, when
they too become Chöwfas following their
mother. The sons and daughters of the
3rd king by a P’ra Sanööm or inferior wife
take the rank only of Màwm Chöws, the
same as the sons and daughters of a
Prince P’ra Ong Chöws who have been
appointed to places of trust or have not.
All the Màwm Chöws who have govern-
ment charge outside or inside the royal
palace may be promoted to the rank of
P’ra Ong Chöw according to merit.

These grades of rank are according to
ancient customs that have been trans-
mitted down to the present those from
many dynasties before the building of
the old city Ayuthia.

At the beginning of the Tonburee dynas-
ty when Bangkok first became the Capital
of the kingdom, before the commence-
ment of the present dynasty, there were
three princes denominated P’ra Chöw
löök t’ö Chöwfa. One of them was born
of a superior wife a daughter of a no-
bleman, before the royal father came to

Bangkok Recorder.

We feel quite certain that we are,
in the providence of God, now called
upon to buckle on our armor to com-
bat with a very extraordinary man,
the most learned man among all the
Siamese—-the very Goliath of Budd-
hism—-he held by the New school Budd-
hists. We feel that in ourselves we
have no might against such a man,
standing as he does full two cubits
higher than any of the rulers, or prin-
ces, or former kings of Siam, with a
helmet not of brass only, but of the
best steel, and armed with a coat of
mail of the same metal, and wonder-
fully well wrought and apparently in-
vulnerable. And his legs are encased
in greaves, which it would seem not even
the swords, or spears, or bullets of
French arms with all the magical power
of a Nor Pun could hope to penetrate.
But Oh his spear looks frightful! And
his voice as he stands and defies the
armies of Israel seems terrible! But
there is a power infinitely higher than
he, and in his name we will approach our
antagonist with simply our steel pen
and the truth of the Most High God
calmly flowing from its slender nibs,
hoping that He will make that truth
mighty in combat with Buddhism's
most mighty champion.

Our antagonist in reply to our praise
of the Bible as being the best Book
—imparting more light than any other
book in the world (which views we
first issued in the Siamese “Recorder”
and afterwards in the English “Re-
corder”) appears to be greatly sur-
prised, and even ventures to ridicule
our high appreciation of it. He
affects to believe that the Bible is
in no sense a book to enlighten the
world, because it does not teach the
science of astronomy, nor shipbuild-
ing nor the power and uses of steam
as applied to navigation, nor the science
of calculating the latitude and longi-
tude of places, etc.

We will frankly acknowledge, at the
onset, that the Bible makes no attempt
to teach these or any other of the
natural sciences. While it often al-
ludes to them, and always in harmony
with all the new discoveries that have
been made in them, it never stops to
describe or define them. It had a far
more important light to impart to the
world, and that was a spiritual light.
The Bible, as we and all its friends
hold, was given to mankind to teach
them the knowledge and worship of
the true God, which they had lost in
the fall, and to show them how they
may be saved from sin and all its eternal
consequences. Now all the friends of
the Bible hold that the loss of the
knowledge of the true God produces
the most horrible darkness that man-
kind can suffer, and that a Book which
dissipates that darkness is the best of
all books. They also hold that the know-
ledge and worship of the true God is
eminently conducive to strength of
mind and a happy and prosperous life,
because those who endeavor to please
the living and Almighty God, will ob-
tain his peculiar blessing in body,
soul, and spirit, for he delighteth “to
give good things to them that ask
him” for them. And these good things
comprise, together with spiritual bles-
sings, all the ordinary blessings of life
among which are a rapid increase in
knowledge of the arts and sciences.
Hence those nations which are the
most thorough believers in the God of
the Bible, and receive that Book as
his own luminous legacy to a benight-
ed world, enjoy not only infinitely more
spiritual light and knowledge than hea-
then nations, but are also far before
them in all the arts and sciences.
While they do not learn astronomy, or
geography, or navigation, or steam-boat
building from the Bible, it gives them
intimate acquaintance with One who
knows the whole of these arts and
sciences, and of all others—nay is him-
self the sole author of them, and has
infinite stores of knowledge yet un-
revealed from which to supply all the
real wants of the race as they shall
occur during all the eternal future.
Having such an Almighty and all-wise
father, whom they love and honor, it
should be expected that He would
confer upon them much more know-
ledge and prosperity than He does on
those of his children who forsake and
forget him. And such we find he
does. Where can be found a more
notorious fact, than that the nations
that worship the God whom the Bible
reveals are the most enlightened and
prosperous of all other nations? Now
all the heathen nations that will not
acknowledge Jehovah as their divine
father, are still his children, and his
heart is still towards them, and it is
He who gives them all the good things
they enjoy. But He judges that it will
neither be good nor wise to favor them
as he does those who love and serve
Him; and hence the difference we al-
ways find between the two classes.
For such reasons we affirm that the
Bible is the great light of the world,
the Book of all Books.

Again.—The Maker of mankind
for good reasons may have chosen to
bring man into the world with but
little knowledge of the modern scien-
ces, yet giving him faculties of mind
to improve by his own diligent study,
and thus grow in knowledge continu-
ally and forever. He might have made
the first man an angel of light, endow-
ed with all the knowledge of Gabriel;
for He himself made all the angelic
hosts, and surely he could have made
mankind as lofty in intellect and power
as they. If our Buddhist champion
has good reason for ridiculing the Bi-
ble because Jehovah gave man at the
beginning so little knowledge as he
thinks he did, when He had an infinite
amount of it locked up in His own
bosom, there would still have been
substantially the same reasons for do-
ing it, had God created man with
knowledge equal to all that the human
race have since acquired or even angels
now possess, for there would yet have
been infinite stores in His own mind
that He had not communicated. In-
deed we do not see where such
a man could ever stop ridiculing
the God of the Bible until all the in-
finite depths and highs of the know-
ledge and wisdom of Jehovah had been
imparted to man. Hence it must be
admitted by all reasonable men, that
our antagonist is most unreasonable in
attacking the Bible as he does.

The Bible teaches that Jehovah is
the sole and only maker and proprie-
tor of all worlds, and that it seemed
good to him to make many grades and
ranks of intelligent creatures, and to
endow them with various degrees of
knowledge and power, giving them
facilities for attaining to still further
degrees of wisdom from His own
inexhaustible fullness ad infinitum.
And the reasonableness of this divine
plan, it seems to us must commend it-
self to every reasonable mind. God
holds himself as being the Father of all
mankind, and he speaks to man in the
Bible as a human father speaks to his
little children in simple language and
not in strict scientific terms. The
King of Siam, with all his praise-
worthy knowledge of the arts and
sciences, doubtless converses with his
own children in simple language.
When he speaks to them of the sun's ris-
ing and setting he uses popular terms
which suit the appearances of those
phenomena. He does not talk to
them as a philosopher might, and say
the earth hath rolled us round to see
the sun again; or more accurately, the
earth hath performed another diurnal
revolution on its axis so that the sun
appears to set. Suppose we should
ridicule the king because he always
talks to his children and to every body
else as though he were ignorant of the
first lessons of astronomy! Why, he
and all others would account us most
unreasonable. In what sense is our
Buddhist advocate less so in ridiculing
the Bible, Jehovah's simple and lov-
ing mode of talking to his little chil-
dren on the great concerns of their
souls, but occasionally alluding to mat-
ters that pertain to astronomy, geogra-
phy, navigation and other sciences in
popular language, which even the most
learned among men love to use?

Again—The King of Siam knows
very much that he does not yet at-
tempt to communicate to his children,
because they are not yet prepared to
receive it. He sees that they must be
trained a long time, and their minds
expanded gradually many years, as his
own has been, ere they can come to
know all that he does. But enjoying,
as they do, extraordinary light from
christian lands, he ought not to think
that it will require 60 years' for
them to attain to all his own knowl-
edge. It would be reasonable for him
to expect that, should they attain to his
age, that they would stand as much
higher than he now does in general
knowledge, as he does above all his
royal predecessors.

The King also sees that his little
children do not in their childhood
need the hundredths part of the knowl-
edge which he now has, that their
slender bodies could not endure the
indwelling of such a capacious mind,
and that their relations to him and to
their own country do not at all call
for such precocity of intellect. In like
manner Jehovah, the Almighty Father
of mankind, sees that man is not pre-
pared to receive at once the vast stores
of knowledge that are laid up in his
bosom for him, and that it is far bet-
ter to impart those treasures unto him
very gradually, as circumstances in
the condition of the race shall call
for them, and their own relations to
the world make it necessary that they
should possess them. Hence Jehovah
has from the first dispensed to man-
kind of the treasures of his wisdom
very gradually, but always as fast as
He saw the real wants of the race de-
manded. We would love to illustrate
this grand idea by many striking facts
that have occurred in the progress of
the race, but we have now neither
time nor space.

Again—-Our Buddhist Champion
seems to think it quite ridiculous that
Jehovah should have made light to
appear before the sun. It seems strange
that he does not consider that a simi-
lar phenomenon occurs daily before the
sun rises and after he sets, and in the
wet season sometimes several days to-
gether, when not a ray of the sun is seen,
and still the day-light appears regularly.
He would have his readers think it
perfect nonsense to believe that every
herb and grass and tree was made
before the sun. But if Jehovah is al-
mighty, had he not power to make
day-light without the aid of the sun?
And had he not power on the fourth
day to constitute the sun and moon
the sole rulers, under him, of the day
and the night? But the truth is,
neither the original Hebrew nor the
common English translation from the
Hebrew of the 1st Chapter of Genesis
make it necessary to understand, that
Jehovah did not create the sun and
moon and stars until the fourth day of
creation. In the 10th verse of that
Chapt. we read that God said, "Let
there be lights in the firmament of
heaven", that is, let them appear there,
be seen daily fulfilling the offices for
which he had constituted them. In all
probability they were made before, but
from some cause had not till then sent
their rays through the remaining dark-
ness there was in the heavens. In the
10th verse it is said that "God made
two great lights" &c. Now Hebrew
scholars know well that the original
word translated *made* would be as cor-
rectly rendered *had made*, which would
seem better to suit the context, and
remove apparent difficulties. Now we
understand the Bible to give us in the
first Chapt. of Genesis an account only
of the creation, out of a chaotic globe,
of the firmament or atmosphere, the dry
land, the vegetable and animal king-
doms, and finally man. In the 2nd
verse we are distinctly told that there
was at the time when Moses began his
history a chaotic Earth, being the
ruins probably of the same planet at a
period innumerable ages before that
time. The first act of the Almighty
Spirit of Jehovah was to make day-
light to appear or light visible. We
may reasonably suppose that the
chaotic waters were then in such a state
of expansion as to absolutely fill all and
perhaps much more than all the space
now occupied by the atmosphere,
and with such density as utterly to
preclude every appearance of light.
But that first almighty act so con-
densed the vapors that some light
could be seen, somewhat as the sun now
gives light in a very dark and cloudy
day. As yet, however, there was no
division of the waters into that body
within the clouds and that immediately
enveloping the more solid parts of the
globe. This was done on the 2nd day
by the creation of the firmament, or
in Bible language the heavens. The
waters were then divided distinctly
into water in a condensed form as we
now find it, and into aqueous vapor
forming clouds. At the end of the
2nd day water still covered the whole
globe. But on the 3rd day, Jehovah
made the dry land to appear. In all
probability there was a globe of
earthly matter before. But on that
day God consolidated that earthy mat-
ter much as we now find it. The manner
of his doing it, Moses does not attempt
to describe. But there are strong
intimations given in other parts of the
Bible, that He did it by producing
tremendous convulsions (Psalms 104:
6—9) so that vast mountains and val-
lies were produced from the abyss of
waters. Consequently the water would
settle away into the immense vallies
leaving the higher parts of the globe
to become dry.

On the same 3d day, or period of the
creation, before any ray of the sun had
broken through the dense clouds above,
God caused the earth to bring forth
every kind of grass and herb and tree.
Why should we for a moment question
his ability to do this without the aid
of the direct rays of the sun since he
could and did perform other creative
works only the day before equally
magnificent! How preposterous for
man—-puny, ignorant man-—to ridicule
the idea!

On the 4th day God caused the sun
and moon and stars to appear. As
we understand it, he brought the rays
of those luminaries down through the
deep clouds that had till then filled
the heavens, in some sense as he brought
the dry land up out of the abyss of
waters. As there was probably a so-
lid part of our globe that did not ap-
pear till the 3d day, so there was, in
all probability, a sun and moon and
stars long before thy were disclosed on
the 4th day; yet these were the works
of Jehovah, performed in the depths of
the Eternity past, which idea, we
conceive, imparts the greater majesty
to Him as creator. And the idea (which
the Bible favors and never denies) is a
most sublime one, to wit, that this
planet was made by Jehovah innumer-
able ages before the Bible history of it
commences, and that in those previous
stages of its existence, its maker had
His thoughts upon the human race
which He had then purposed to create
to inhabit it, and even then made vast
provisions of coal and oil and other
things which man would at this pre-
sent period need, and which He is now
opening up to him in all parts of the
world.

With regard to the slur which our
Buddhist champion would cast on the
Bible on account of the supposed lit-
tle knowledge which Jehovah gave
Noah of ship building, we need add
but few words. The record which
Moses gave of the time and circum-
stances, shows clearly to our mind,
that God gave him all the knowledge
he then needed of the art. It seems
to us far better that he should
try to save himself and family and
animals of all kinds from destruction
by the flood, by means of an ark with-
out masts and hence without sails or
rudder, than to have done it in such
a ship as the “Great Eastern” with
the aid of every improvement which
modern wisdom has devised. Had he
had a ship like the latter, and all the
knowledge of navigation which the
best modern navigators now have, how
is it likely that he would have suc-
ceeded better than he did, having only
the power and mercy of His Almighty
Father to guide him, with the feeling
impressed upon him continually that
none but his Almighty maker could pre-
serve him and his family from a de-
luged world? It is absolutely certain,
that God preserved and guided the
Ark in the very best way, and that it was
far better for Noah and his family to
lodge on a high mountain in the re-
gion of his old home, than to have
drifted far away from it, and finally
lodged in some valley. By getting
aground on the mountain, he had the
advantages of dry land about 200 days
sooner than he would have had, had he
escaped entirely every mountain and
first struck on some vast plain.

Supposing Noah had had a steamer
like the Great Eastern, where would
he have stowed his wood or his coal
for steaming 150 days, together with
all the animals he was required to pre-
serve with him on board! How could
it have been as well for him to sail
hither and thither to see whether the
waters were dried up from the face of
the earth, as it was to send out a dove
for this object, guided only by Jehovah
and which would be sure to bring him
correct reports, and with the least pos-
sible amount of care or anxiety on his
part about it!

But we have already occupied quite
too much space in so small a paper as
ours, and must desist for the present.
Having, as we think, ‘demolished our
champion’s most powerful batteries
against the Bible, we fancy we shall
have easy work to make, in some future
issue, a finish of all others that have
come to our knowledge.

Local Items.

The Siamese government has just
received from the Establishment of
George Forrester in Liverpool another
dredging machine by the "May Queen."
A Boat is now being made for it and
is under rapid progress. We were in-
correct in stating in our issue on the
13th that the government had then
two dredging Boats in readiness. This
one which we now report, being so
near an accomplished fact, we caught
up too hastily as being such. There
is certainly one Boat now complete,
and she is performing the duties as-
signed to her to the great admiration of
the government as well as the people.
Phya Sooriwong Wiyawat the only
son of H. E. Phya Kalahom has the
honor, as we understand, of intro-
ducing this great improvement into
Siam. Having witnessed the opera-
tion of such Boats in Egypt and oth-
er places while an attache of the Siam-
ese Embassy to Paris in 1850, the
thought struck him that such Boats
would be of great service in his own
country; and from that time he deter-
mined that he would exert his influence
to introduce them. He has thoroughly
accomplished the grand object; and
from this time onward we doubt not
that such Boats will increase in number
and power until the vast prairies of
Siam shall become checkered with
good canals, and the country by them
vastly improved. We are credibly in-
formed that the dredging Boat will
throw up on shore 10000 cubic feet
of earth in 24 hours.

Phya Sooriwong Wiyawat has also
the honor of having had the chief
charge under his father of introducing
River steam Boats into Siam in 1858.
He is one of the most enterprising
men that Siam has ever produced,
a complete counterpart of his illustri-
ous father.

His Excellency Phya Kalahom left
the city in his steamer "Volant" on the
18th inst for a pleasure trip to Petcha-
buree and is expected to return on
Sunday the 28th.

There are now 84 square rigged ves-
sels moored in the river within the
city, forming an almost unbroken line
of merchant-men from the upper Fort
to the American Rice mill below, a
distance of four miles. They make a
fine appearance. Many of them are
trim waiting to be freighted with the
great staple of the country, as Siam is
becoming the great granary of South
Eastern Asia. We are glad to learn,
that the grain of the new Rice crop is
coming into market more and more
freely, and that there is every reason
to entertain the hope that in a few
days it will be abundant. As yet, how-
ever, the price of the grain shows but
little tendency to decline. We are
suspicious that holders of it are keep-
ing it back, hoping that they can do
better with it a month or two hence
than now. We feel quite assured that
those, who may be playing this game,
will in the end find themselves great
loosers by it; for all the probabilities
seem to be, that the market in China
will soon be well stocked with rice
from all quarters.

We are authorized to say, that the
government dredging Boat will pres-
ently be employed in deepening the old
canal around the city, and that when
that work is completed it will be em-
ployed on the canal now being excava-
ted from T'acheen River to Bangkok.
About two thirds of the manual dig-
ging in preparation of the dredging
Boat, it is said, has been accomplished,
and that the other third is steadily go-
ing forward. We may hence reason-
ably hope that we shall soon have 17
miles more of a beautiful canal exten-
ding to the charming country and great
sugar district on the T'acheen river.
And on one of its banks, let it be re-
membered, government is going to give
us a fine carriage road, when we, who
live on the West side of the great River-
Broadway of Bangkok shall enjoy
equal privileges of pony riding and
driving with our fellow citizens on the
East side.

We hear that some of the servants
of Europeans and Americans are suffer-
ing from anxiety in regard to the cus-
tom of shaving the head as a token of
respect for His Majesty the late 2nd
king that some, having shaved, are
now threatened with flogging for
having done so. We suspect that
some petty officers of government are
trying to extort money from the poor
and uninformed by this opportunity.
Those high in power should make it
plain to all, who should to go into
mourning by shaving and who should
not.

Mr. Thomson the Photographer who
was to have left for Ongoor on the 28d is
still here and will not leave till next
Saturday. He finds that it will be
impracticable to go by way of Chan-
taboon and will therefore take the
overland route

We are sorry to record that two
men fell overboard yesterday from a
ship in port and were drowned

We hear that a grand Ball is to be
given on Friday next by P. Pickon-
pack Esqr. to the Ladies and gentlemen
of Bangkok.

We beg in this place to correct
another mistake into which we inadver-
tently fell in our last issue, in saying
that the body of His Majesty the late
2nd king of Siam had been put into
a Copper urn. We have been in-
formed from the highest authority that
the interior urn is of solid silver and
the outer one of wood covered with
solid gold. Our informant adds that
the copper urn is in very common use
for the bodies of princes who are not
kings. None but kings are ever
honored at death with such an urn.

The French Barque Juthia was
sold on the 18th inst. to Chawaoga Pook
for the sum of $8800.

DEATH.

On the 6th inst. after an illness of
88 hours, Charlotte Elizabeth Alexand-
rina Dawson, infant daughter of Capt
John and Georgia Crook.

"O! such is the kingdom of heaven."

On Wednesday morning 24th inst,
of Chronic dirrhoes, on board of the
"Anna Lilly," Gustaf Gusman, a Ger-
man Seaman.

Continued from 1st page.

the throne. One of them was by a wife
who was a daughter of P'rabit Somdetch
P'ra p'oo't'i ya'wt-fa-Chulaloke whom
the then reigning king favored by giving
him absolute power as a king in the
war which then was. Concerning those
three Chowfas, one of them died when
quite young, and one of them died when
the then existing dynasty had passed a-
way. But the 3d ultimately became
Somdetch P'ra Chow lin t'o Chowfa in
the reign of P'rabit Somdetch P'ra p'oo't'i
ya'wt-fa Choolaloke. When the now dy-
nasty was established, there were two
princesses denominated Somdetch P'ra
Chow P'à-nang t'o who were Chowfa.
The elder of them had three sons and
one daughter but their royal father had
d'ied l'ong before. The younger celestial
later had three sons and two daughters
whose royal father had also died long
before. All these nine princes and
princesses the king was pleased. to
promote to the rank of Somdetch P'ra
Chow lín t'ò Chowfa. Afterward, the
king promoted the son of Somdetch P'ra
Chow P'è-nang-t'ô the elder to the
office of 2d king at the same time when
Somdetch P'ra Chow-nawng-ya-t'ô was
second king.

The supreme king at that time had two
sons and two daughters by a chief wife
whom he had before he came to the
throne whom he promoted to the rank
of Chòwfia. But the second king had
a daughter whose mother was the
daughter of the Rajah of Cheang Mòi
whom the king also honored with the
title of Somdetc'h P'rà-Chòw-lín-t'ô
Chôwfia. All the celest'al princes and
princesses in the beginning of the
reign of P'rábat Somdetch P'rá P'óot'i
-Yáwt-fa Choolaláwk were the follow-
ing vis—Somdetc'h P'rá Chòw P'ê-
nang—2 persons—but if we include
the P'rá-chòw-nawng-ya-t'ô the se-
cond king there were 3 persons who
were of the high'est grade. There were
four sons of the king titled Somdetc'h
P'rí-chòw-lóok-t'ô-Chòw-fa, who were
of the second grade, and there were
eleven royal nephews inclusive of the
children of the third king titled Som-
detc'h P'rí-chòw-lín-t'ô-chòw-fa, who
were of the third grade. There were
altogether of the three grades eighteen
princes and princesses inclusive of
Chòw-fa-lín-t'ô, the son of the king
of the T'onburee dynasty. And there
was also an aged princess, a Chòw-fa
who was the daughter of a king in the
preceding reign while Ayuthia was the
capital. She was still in full honor
as a Chòw-fa. Hence there were then
altogether nineteen Chòw-fas.

Among these there were at the be-
ginning of the present dynasty seven
Chòw-fas who had not yet received the
rite of Sók'an. These were as fol-
lows—three Somdetc'h P'rí-Chòw-
lóok-t'ô-Chòw-fas (not including the
elder) two Somdetc'h P'rá-Chòw-
lín-t'ô-Chòw-fas in the family of
Somdetc'h P'rá-Chòw P'ê-nang-t'ô
the younger princes; one Somdetoh
P'ri-lán-t'û-Chôw-fa in the family of
the second king; and one Somdeteb
P'râ-Chôw-lán-t'û, who was the son
of the Ton-burce dynasty. In the
childhood of the seven Chôw-fa liv-
ing at the beginning of the present
dynasty, there was no opportunity for
them to receive the full ceremonies of
the Sokan to which celestial princes
and princesses are entitled. Two of
them attained to a suitable age for
receiving the honor in the first year of
the present dynasty—the year of the
tyger the 4th year of the decade, Sia-
mese civil era 1144, corresponding to
the christian era 1782. Two others
attained to a proper age in the year of
the 'small dragon,-—the 7th of the
decade—-Siamese civil era 1147—-
christian era 1784.-—Two others reach-
ed the time of Sokan in the year of
the Cock—-the 1st of the decade, civil
era 1151—christian era 1789. The
Somdetoh P'ri-Chôw-lan-t'û-Chôw-
fa who was the son of the king of the
Tonburee dynasty attained to the age
of Sokan in the year of the hog—the
3rd of the decade—civil era 1153—-
christian era 1791. In the course of
those ten years the government was
greatly occupied with wars and conse-
quently no time could be spared for
the purpose of the Sokan festivals. The
ceremonies were made as short as pos-
sible, having barely enough for the
name of it.

But there was one-aged princess the
daughter of one of the kings who
reigned in the old city Ayuthia. Her
name was Chôw-fa P'in-t'âwadee. She
had herself been honored in childhood
with the complete ceremonies of the
Sokan suitable for a Chôw-fa, and she
had witnessed the same festivals in
honor of her elder and younger bro-
thers. And hence she remembered all
the forms of the ceremony, and was
the person to hand that custom and
many others down from the ancient
times to the present dynasty. When
she saw that not one of those seven
Chôw-fas (above named) had received
the full ceremonies of the Sokan, and
that all suitable subjects of the rite
had passed away, she worried herself
about it greatly, and said that the cus-
tom of the Sokan was about to be-
come extinct. She was then quite aged
and thought that when she should die
there would be no one to trace out the
custom onward to a time when there
should be suitable subjects for receiv-
ing it, and said to herself who can
then give a correct discription of it.
She therefore set herself about giving
a full discription in writing of the
ceremonies of the Sokan, and then
explained it to many government men
stationed outside and inside of the
royal palace, and had them become
well versed in all minutim of the cus-
tom, that she might by such means
prevent it from becoming extinct.

The great anxiety and care with
which Princess Chôw-fa P'in-t'âwadee
was exercised received the approbation
of 2nd king of the reign of P'râbât
Sômdetch P'râ Pôôt'i-yâwt-fâ Choo-
lalokol and hence he made an artificial
mountain called Kris-lât with a tem-
ple on its summit, and made a pool
with the four animals sprinkling wat-
er into it after the fashion which Chôw-
fa P'in-t'âwadee had described. When
he had finished the mountain he re-
ported the matter to the Supreme king,
and begged that the king would be
pleased to confer the ceremony of the
Sôkan on a son and daughter of the
king's, who were born of a mother not
a princess, and thus promote them to
Chôwfas as though their mother had
been of the suitable rank for it, and
thus though it be a violation of custom,
it could be excused on the ground of a
stern necessity to preserve the festival
from extinction, while Chôwfa P'in-
t'âwadee should still be alive to see
that it was all performed in due order
according to ancient usage, and would,
moreover, have the personal observa-
tion of many witnesses, who would
thus aid to transmit it down to future
generations. The Supreme king granted
the request of the 2nd king while he
himself could not approve of the viola-
tion of the ancient custom above men-
tioned.

The 2nd king, having obtained the
permission had, the Sôkan festival held
within his own palace on three differ-
ent occasions—-Once in the year of the
rabbit—-the 7th of the decade, civil era
1157—-Christian era 1795—-Once in
the year of the horse, the 10th of the
decade, civil era 1160—-Christian era
1798, and once in the year of the cock,
3d of the decade—-civil era 1163—-
Christian era 1801.

Papal States.—-The new Minister of
War has issued strict orders for the
suppression of britpandism. The Cen-
tral Committee (Liberal) have publish-
ed instructions as to the course to be
pursued after the departure of the
French troops. Travelers coming
from districts infected with cholera
are prohibited from entering the Papal
territory.

Kingdom of Italy.—-The King is at
Naples, where he has visited cholera
hospitals. A Cabinet circular cautions
the authorities as to their conduct
now that the French troops are with-
drawing from the Papal States. The
King of Portugal is at Milan.

The Fenian Object.

The object of the Fenian plot was
distinctly defined by two witnesses. It
was to subvert the dominion of the
QUEEN in Ireland, and establish a re-
public. The Fenian oath, also as ad-
ministered to members on admission,
as repeated by one of these witnesses
as follows:—-In the presence of Al-
mighty God I do solemnly swear al-
legiance to the Irish, now virtually
established and to take up arms when
called on in defence of its integri-
ty. I also swear implicit obedience
to my superior officers; and I take
this oath in the spirit of a soldier of
liberty, so help me God.

When we look to the testimony ac-
tually offered as to the means at the
conspirators disposal, and the resour-
ces on which they relied for the dis-
memberment of the British Empire
and the subjugation of all other classes
of Irishmen to their own, we are cer-
tainly astonished at the madness of the
devise, but we must admit that Gov-
ernment was fully justified in inter-
fering as it did. Absurd as was the
scheme in its ultimate purpose, it pos-
sessed reality enough to work infinite
mischief in the country by destroying
confidence and banishing tranquility.

The Fenian Conspiracy, and we may
remark in passing that the Irish Gov-
ernment, appears to have been on the
alert for some time past, and to have
postponed its action only to a fitting
season. A police-officer deposed that
he received instructions to watch the
movements of the persons connected
with the Irish People more than twelve
months ago, and the drillings of the
Fenians were tracked and calculated
from week to week. There was no
lack of vigilance; therefore, on the part
of the Government, and its circum-
spection has now been rewarded with
complete success. The whole Feni-
an Executive, with a single exception,
is in custody, and the charges against
the prisoners have been so well substan-
tiated by evidence that their committal
for trial followed as a matter of course,
without objection or protest.—-Evening
Mail.

Courting Two Hundred Years
Ago.

—-Among the amusing reminiscences
of those days in the famous courtship
of the Rev. Stephen Mix, of Wethers-
field. He made a journey to North-
ampton in 1696, in search of a wife.
He arrived at the Rev. Solomon Stodd-
ard, informed him of the object of his
visit, and that the presure of home du-
ties required the utmost dispatch. Mr.
Stoddard took him in the room where
his daughters were and introduced him to
Mary, Esther, Christiana, Sarah, Re-
bekah, and Hannah, and then retired.
Mr. Mix, addressing Mary, the eldest
daughter, said he had lately been set-
tled at Wethersfield, and was desirous
of obtaining a wife, and concluded by
offering his heart and hand. She blush-
ingly replied that so important a pro-
position required time for considera-
tion. He replied that he was pleased
that she asked for suitable time for re-
flection, and, in order to afford her the
needed opportunity to think of his pro-
posal, he would step into the next room
and smoke a pipe with her father, and
she could report to him. Having smok-
ed his pipe and sent a message to Miss
Mary that he was ready for her answer,
she came in and asked for further time
for consideration. He replied that she
could reflect still longer on the subject,
and send her answer by letter to Weth-
ersfield. In a few weeks he received
her reply, which is probably the most
laconic epistle ever penned. Here is
the model letter, which was soon fol-
lowed by a wedding:

The matrimonial mixture took place
on the 1st December, 1696, and proved
to be compounded of the most conge-
nial elements. Mix was pastor of that
paradise of onions for forty-four
years.-—N.Y. Independent.

Success of the Missionary
Cause

Well meaning persons often express
doubts as to the success of missionary
enterprise. The following summary,
from the Morning Star, should send con-
viction to their minds. It is the work
of but a little more than half a centu-
ry.

At the beginning of the present cen-
tury, there were no missionary socie-
ties in the United States, and now there
are 100.

Then there were no missionaries a-
mong the heathen, now there are 3,000
and 7,000 native assistants. Then
there were no churches on the heathen
soil; now there are four thousand Chris-
tian churches where heathenism once
prevailed.

There were then no heathen con-
verts; now there are 380,000 church
members of converted heathen, and as
many nominal Christians.

There were then no Christian
schools; now there are 3,000 with 550,
000 children under the Christian in-
struction.

Then the Bible did not exist in a
single heathen language; now it is
translated into 120 of the most impor-
tant heathen tongues.—-American Mis-
sionary.