Their first King, according to their vague records began to reign in B.C. 1444. He had forty successors up to the King who was reigning in A.D. 1546. All these Kings were of different families, who were in turn driven from the throne which they had seized, because, having become despots, they were punished for the abuse of their power.
The proud and jealous spirits of a limited dependency ought, in the degradation to which they have been reduced, to console themselves with the hope that their degradation is but transitory, and that their posterity shall be delivered from the chains which have weighed them down. Rarely does tyranny transmit the fruits of its crimes to its descendants.
History has not given us the name of the King who reigned in 1550 A.D., although the chief events of his reign have been chronicled. It was in this reign that the Kingdom of Siam was laid waste by the incursions of several neighbouring nations who carried fire and sword throughout the towns and the country side. Thirty thousand innocent victims were sacrificed to their ruthless vengeance, and this swarm of warriors seemed to prefer to lay waste the crops and to destroy the towns rather than to conquer and govern them.
The King of Siam, alarmed at their progress, arose at the murmurings of his people. He raised a large army. All those capable of bearing arms were summoned to the flag and those who were so cowardly as to excuse themselves from fighting for their country, were threatened with the punishment of being burnt alive. Foreigners were bound by this law.
At that time there were 130 Portuguese in the Kingdom, of whom 120 were obliged to take up arms. The King believed himself to be invincible, when he saw this handful of Europeans whom he regarded as so many heroes at his disposal.
A powerful army of 400,000 men including 70,000 non Siamese took the field with the King at the head. The army was further reinforced on the way by 100,000 men and 4000 elephants. We must regard these numbers as a gross exaggeration. It is true that the temperate nature of Eastern races renders the question of the food-supply an easy matter for the largest armies; but how could so great an army have been collected together in a country which boasts but few inhabitants. However we will set forth the facts as they have been handed down to us, and we can only question them by the light of their probability.
The army, under the command of four leaders (of whom two were Turks and the other two Portuguese) advanced to put a stop to the devastation of the country side. As soon as the armies confronted each other, the enemy commenced a furious attack on the Siamese rear, which would have been destroyed, had not the King altered his tactics. The new disposition of his forces gave him the advantage, and helped by the Portuguese who fought side by side, he was enabled to rally his troops. A general action was then commenced in which his elephants and artillery scattered death and destruction in the opposing ranks of the enemy, who retired under the cover of darkness leaving 130,000 dead on the battle field. This battle cost the Siamese 50,000 men, and flushed with victory, a force of 400,000 Siamese invaded the Kingdom of Quibem which was governed by a Queen who had favoured the enemy. The towns which they conquered were looted and the inhabitants, always the victims of the quarrels of rulers, were put to the sword. The capital would have suffered the same fate, had not the Queen, putting aside her natural hauteur, submitted to the conqueror and to the conditions of peace which were imposed. This princess, cognizant of her weakness, consented to pay an annual tribute of 60,000 Portuguese ducats, and her nine year old son paid homage as a vassal to the conqueror who carried him off to Siam to grace his triumph.
The victorious monarch did not enjoy his glory for long; his days of prosperity were changed to days of mourning. The Queen, in his absence, had indulged in a criminal liaison with palpable results. The fear of being punished for her adultery led her to commit another crime, and, to secure her position, she administered poison to her husband in a cup of milk. The King remained alive for five days, during which time he engaged in affairs of State.
Benefits were conferred upon the Portuguese allies; their nation was declared exempt from taxation of every description for a period of three years, and their priests were permitted to preach the gospel in every part of the Kingdom. His son was proclaimed King, and the joy of seeing his successor in power rendered him indifferent to the pangs of death. As soon as the monarch was dead the chief officers of State handed over the reins of government to the Queen of whose misdeeds they were unaware. Her liaisons which could no longer be kept secret, revealed her unchastity, but hardened to crime and with a conscience untouched by remorse, she acted her part with perfect calmness, and, to make matters worse, she openly lived with her guilty paramour. After this act which was the cause of a certain amount of dissatisfaction, but did not create any actual rebellion, she determined to elevate her lover to the throne, and to dispose of the young King by the same method employed in the case of his father. The disaffection both of the nobility and of the common people, checked her in her career of crime, and the national outcry was favourable to her designs. She pretended to fear that attempts would be made against her son's life, whereas in reality she was his sole enemy; and, to frustrate such attempts, she desired to have a body-guard to protect his august head from the wicked plots of which she said she had had information.
She was granted 12,000 foot soldiers and 500 mounted men for his safe keeping.