MARKS OF GROWTH
Dr. House continued to be superintendent of the mission school after his return in 1856, and although he makes very few references to this work in his journal from now on, yet there are occasional items which mark the growth. From this period Mrs. House appears as a factor in the educational work, but her achievements will occupy a separate chapter. In August after the return the doctor writes:
“Our school is much enlarged—many applicants to learn English. The eldest child of the son of the Prime Minister now comes regularly to Mrs. Mattoon, a very bright lad of seven. At the request of the king I am teaching two princes; one of sixteen, his grandson, the other a grandson of the late king, a boy of eleven. And by order of H. M. a dozen of the sons of his servants are now learning English in our school as day scholars.... There is a spacious bamboo school house going up in the back part of our lot.”
This growth, however, was in the educational work. While the workers did not belittle the importance of the school, they were well-nigh sick of heart with deferred hopes, a feeling that is reflected in their report to the Board for the year 1856:
“It requires no little faith to conduct, day after day and year after year, these patient labours; especially as they have not resulted in the conversion of those on whom time, talents and prayers of the missionaries are spent.”
This increase in school was so rapid that shortly after they had established themselves on the site granted by the king it became evident that this lot in the city would not allow for the expansion commensurate with the growth. With the awakening of a desire for education and of an interest in the foreign religion the earlier necessity of having a location within the city itself had passed, for what the mission had to offer was being sought after. Accordingly, a parcel of ground, the gift of Mr. D. O. King, was obtained on the west bank of the river in the lower suburbs known as Sumray. There new buildings were erected, and in November, 1857, the transfer of the mission was effected to that site, which became the scene of the most notable achievements of the mission in Bangkok and continues to the present day the center of a pervasive Christian influence.
At the end of the first year in the new location, Dr. House wrote home: “School occupies me much of the time. We have a new Siamese teacher, a most respectable old gentleman; may he get good from us, saving good.” This teacher was Nai Chune, who, a year later, became the first Siamese convert. The significance of this addition to the teaching force is that the pupils are no longer predominantly Chinese lads, but that the demand for teaching the Siamese language requires a native teacher.
The winter season, being free from rains, was the time best suited for touring in the country. In February of 1858 Dr. and Mrs. House started up the Meinam to revisit the scenes of their former tour. Finding the river alive with pilgrims going to Prabat for the annual veneration of Buddha’s footprint, they decided to join the pilgrimage as affording an excellent opportunity for distributing tracts. On this visit to the shrine the visitors did not experience the same opposition to entering the sanctum as Dr. House had on his first visit.