Chao Fah Noi said to him confidentially that any one who wanted to do something new in those days must do it in secret, for if the king learned of their activities he would call upon them to work for him so as to keep them from pursuing investigations. This prince, however, was not altogether secret in his experiments, for under date of July 4, 1848, Dr. House writes:
“This a. m., we saw something new on the river—a little model steamboat, not twenty feet long, with smoke-pipe, paddle wheel, all complete, steaming bravely against the tide, with H. R. H. Chao Fah Noi sitting at the helm. It was the first native steamer on the Meinam, entirely his own construction.”
But not for one moment did Dr. House lose sight of his prime objective. The favour of princes was no reward in itself; he was always concerned for the influence he might exercise through his contact with men of power:
“How taken with the new science is the Prince (Chao Fah Noi). Oh, that acquaintance and opportunity given me with him may be improved to win and turn him from his trust in false gods and rites! He has a good mind.”
Not a lecture, scarcely a conversation, on science but Dr. House sought to point out the unanswerable argument from “design in nature” as a proof of a Creator and of the truth of Christianity. To some, the revelations of nature through science became also the revelations of a Divinity.
“Brother Chandler spoke of a person (Godata) who after attending the chemical lectures last year, seeing evidence of wisdom and goodness in the composition of air and water, said ‘There must be a God—there must be.’”
This same Godata it was who became chaplain to the army under King Chulalongkorn.
A study of Dr. House’s journal seems to justify the assertion that his most far-reaching influence upon the mission work was through his relations with these progressive members of the nobility. It is even within a margin of safety to affirm that his influence was not exceeded by that of any other man up to the time of his retirement. This opinion does not underestimate such men as Rev. Jesse Caswell, Rev. Daniel B. Bradley, M.D., and Rev. Stephen Mattoon, whose labours also were pivotal in the development of missions in Siam. It only so happened that the association of Dr. House with the officials of the new government was more continuous in its bearing upon the work. Having gained their sympathy through his practise of medicine, and enlarged their interest through his knowledge of science, he won their complete confidence by his sterling character. When later these men, having obtained chief power in the government, turned to him for counsel in international affairs or when he went to them in behalf of the mission they knew that his judgment was fair and free from ulterior motive. During nearly the entire period of his service he was a valuable friend of the Siamese government and a wise advocate of the mission at court.