"If you expect that women occupy in Siam the same position that they do in America, you will be disappointed. Their condition has been greatly improved by the king since he ascended the throne, and he is evidently determined to overcome the prejudices of his people as rapidly as he can do so. He is the first ruler of Siam who has ever given his arm to escort a lady to the dinner-table after the European manner, and the first lady to receive this honor was the wife of an American admiral.
"The country has never been ruled by a woman, and women have never held a high place in the royal councils. Polygamy is customary in Siam; and the king has a harem, just as the Sultan of Turkey has one. He has one chief wife, or queen-consort, and is said to have about two hundred other wives; but nobody knows exactly how many there are—at least nobody outside the palace. Like all other monarchs with a harem, he has his favorites; and when one of his wives manages to attract his attention and secure his preference, she is very speedily the envy of the others. Probably human nature is the same the world over, and the history of royal and imperial harems everywhere is not greatly varied.
"Among the common people a man may have several wives if he chooses, and can afford the expense, but ordinarily he has only one. Where he has more than one, the first wife is the head of the household, and her authority is generally undisputed, though they sometimes have domestic quarrels, like people in other countries. Marriages are commonly arranged between youths of eighteen and girls of fourteen, and not infrequently at earlier ages. The ceremony consists of a feast such as the parties can afford; and though priests are not considered necessary, they are generally present to offer prayers. Among the poorer classes there is more approach to equality between husband and wife than with the rich; fashionable society does not permit the wife to eat with the husband, and she is regarded more as a servant than a companion; but the Siamese husbands are said to be much more kind to their wives than the Chinese, and to treat them with more respect.
"A great many wives, both among the nobles and the common people, are bought as slaves, and I am told that probably a quarter of the population is held in slavery. Men sell their wives, children, sisters, brothers, and even themselves; and in times past great numbers of slaves were held that had been captured in wars with neighboring countries. Slaves are not dear in Siam, compared with the prices that were paid in America before the emancipation of the negroes; a child may be bought for a small sum; and when a man wants to purchase a wife, he expects to get her for not more than eighty or a hundred dollars. Much of the slavery in Siam is the result of gambling; and it is not unusual for a man to gamble away his family, his clothes, and then himself, in a single day or evening.
"While we are considering this subject of slavery, I will make an extract or two from the laws of Siam concerning the treatment of persons in bondage:
"'If the inhabitants in embarrassed circumstances sell temporarily their children, wives, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, relatives, and slaves, males or females, to serve the purchaser, and the slaves be overtaken with a calamity, let the money-master inform the seller that he may come and take care of him at the money-master's house. If the money-master take no care of him, and the slave dies, said money-master cannot claim any refund from the seller, because he abandoned the sick slave. His death must be the loss of the money-master, because he neglected a subject of the State.
"'If persons pecuniarily or otherwise embarrassed sell temporarily their children, nephews, nieces, or grandchildren to a purchaser, to be used by him in lieu of interest, and the purchaser or master has business or trouble, and takes his slave to accompany him, and thieves or murderers cut, stab, and kill, or tigers, crocodiles, or other animals kill and devour the slave, the law declares, being the slave of the purchaser who took him with him, the purchaser is entitled to no refund from the seller, because the slave accompanied his master.'
"I have copied this from an English translation of the Siamese laws, and suppose it is correct. I am told that the slavery of Siam is not like what we had in the United States, as the slaves are of the same class and color as their owners, and there is not much difference between a poor free man and a slave. Both of them must work for their living; and I am told it sometimes happens that a man will deliberately sell himself, so as to have a master who will give him steady employment and feed him properly. The king has done a good deal towards improving the condition of slaves, and on every festival occasion those who have been a certain number of years in bondage are declared free. It is a common thing for men to pledge themselves and their families or relatives as security for money loaned or to pay interest, and when the debt is discharged they are free. The two sentences I have quoted from the Siamese laws relate to this kind of temporary slavery. It very often happens, when a man has thus pledged himself and family for a short time, and is confident that he will soon be free, his hopes are not realized, and he remains a slave for years and years—perhaps for his whole life. His relatives remain in bondage with him, and their happiness or misery depends very much upon whether they have a kind master or a cruel one.
"For persons who are not held as slaves, divorce is very easy in Siam. The laws are not very strict; and if they simply desert each other, there is generally an end of their marriage. I have been told of a funny sort of divorce among the lower classes, but cannot say if it be true. When a couple have determined to separate, they sit down on the floor in the middle of their house, and each lights a candle. They sit there in silence while the candles burn slowly down, and the property that they owned in common will all belong to the one whose candle lasts the longest. The one whose light goes out first is only entitled to the clothes he or she may have on at the time—which is not much anyway.