Anna and the King of Siam

by Margaret Landon

  I beg to remain your faithful

  S. P. P. M. MONGKUT R. S.

  in 6115 days of reign

  Avis was ill, so that the return to Siam would have had to be delayed a few months in any case. Anna wrote again to the King and postponed her decision until her status should be clear. His Majesty was engrossed all that summer with preparations for an expedition to Hua Wan in the southern peninsula of Siam for the purpose of observing a total eclipse of the sun. The French government had asked permission to send a group of scientists to that point, since it was expected that the eclipse could be seen best from there. Sir Harry Ord, Governor of the Straits Settlements, and Lady Ord were coming with a suite from Singapore. The British and French Consuls, and other prominent Europeans from Bangkok, were also attending. They were all to be guests of the Siamese government. The eclipse occurred on August 18. After the King and his party had returned to Bangkok he complained of a headache. A few weeks later it was evident that he was seriously, perhaps mortally, ill. Dr. William Campbell, who had succeeded Dr. James Campbell, his cousin, and Dr. Dan Beach Bradley were called. But they were not allowed to prescribe for the patient. They both felt strongly that the fever would yield to quinine. But none was used. On October 1, 1868, the King died—so suddenly that he was alone except for his adopted son, Phya Burut, who had attended him as a priest boy years before, and whom he had called Pheng Napoleon.

  Earlier in the evening the chief ministers of state and Krom Luang Wongsa had been at the bedside. The King had already dictated in Pali a farewell to the Buddhist Order. Feeling sure that death was close, the King had solemnly imposed upon his chief ministers the care of his eldest son, Prince Chulalongkorn, and of the kingdom. He had not asked them to elect the prince to succeed him, but his wishes in that respect were well known. All he had said was that he hoped the Senabodi would choose as his successor someone who would conciliate all parties in the kingdom so that civil war would not follow his death.

  He then told them that he was about to finish his course, and implored them not to give way to grief “nor to any sudden surprise” that he should leave them so, since it “is an event that must befall all creatures that come into this world, and may not be avoided.” Then he turned to a small image of the Buddha and lay absorbed in contemplation. His voice was so strong and he seemed so far from death that they retired. The Kralahome even ventured to go home for a few hours’ rest. Phya Burut sat alone beside the dying King. Suddenly the King raised his hands before his face in the attitude of devotion. His head dropped back, and he was gone.

  Anna never returned to Siam.

  The King had remembered Anna and Louis generously in his will, but neither of them was to receive the inheritance. The executors withheld it, and she knew of it only because her friends at court wrote and told her the circumstances.

  The night that the King died the Senabodi elected Prince Chulalongkorn to succeed his father. The prince, now fifteen, was ill with the same fever. Gradually his strength returned and on November 11 he was crowned. Everyone who saw him was impressed with his dignity, his quiet assurance, and his lack of arrogance.

  Actual power was not to be his until he attained his majority five years later. Nevertheless he was permitted by the Senabodi and the Regent, who was the Kralahome, to proclaim an amnesty of all political prisoners, three hundred and sixty-two of them. He began at once, quietly and with determination, to set forth his views on the future of the kingdom. His second proclamation established religious liberty. In it he declared:

  In regard to the concern of seeking and holding a religion that will be a refuge to you in this life: it is a good and noble concern, and it is exceedingly appropriate and suitable that you, as a nation, and each man individually, should investigate for himself, and according to his own wisdom, which is the right and which is the wrong; and if you see any religion whatever, or any body of men professing any religion whatsoever who seem likely to be an advantage to you,—a true religion in accordance with your own wisdom,—hold to that religion with all your heart.…

  The question of slavery was more difficult, woven as it was into the warp and woof of the system of privilege. The great nobles of the country whose fortunes were based on the thousands of serfs and slaves at their disposal did not look with favor on any attempt to disrupt a system so profitable to themselves. According to the letters that reached Anna, young King Chulalongkorn undertook the matter courageously but discreetly. She heard that he had said to the San Luang, “I see no hope for our country until it is freed from the dark blot of slavery.”

  They were impressed by the vehemence of the King, but not persuaded. The Kralahome replied: “It is impossible to free a nation of slaves without incurring much risk and danger to the state and to the slaveholders. Under the existing laws, Siam could not abolish her system of slavery without undermining at the same time her whole constitution.”

  “Well,” the King answered, “let it be so for the time being then. But my slaves, my soldiers, and my debtors are my own, and I will free them at least, whatever my ministers may see fit to do. For my part, no human being shall ever again be branded in my name and with my mark!”

  After much further discussion the Regent and the Senabodi agreed to a gradual termination of slavery. The first public pronouncement was made by the King. Standing on the lowest step of his glittering throne before the chief rulers, governors, and judges of the people he read his declaration:

  Let this our royal message to our people be proclaimed, and not as if we were doing a great and lordly thing, but our simple duty to our fellowmen and subjects, that from the first day of January, 1872, slavery shall cease to be an institution in our country, and every man, woman, and child shall hold themselves free-born citizens; and further let it be made known, that a tax, according to circumstances of each and every man, shall be levied on the nation to remunerate the slaveholders for the loss of their slaves.

  It was to be 1905 before the final proclamation was issued, absolutely and finally terminating serfdom and slavery. The length of the process was necessary in the transformation of the country from feudalism to freedom. In the end, however, the King had kept his solemn determination as he had made it long ago to Anna—“If I live to reign over Siam I shall reign over a free and not an enslaved nation.”

  Lady Son Klin wrote excitedly from Bangkok:

  Grand Royal Palace

  Nov. 11th, 1872.

  To Lady Leonowens

  My dear Friend & Teacher. My goodness gracious.

  You will not know us any more, we are all so changed, a freedomed people; some of the free like not to leave their master and mistress so they weep for gladness, but most run off like wild deer from shot-gun and are for joy like one mad.

  Me and my two sisters are too happy we fear almost to say how happy for fear perhaps it will all vanish.

  I pray to my God to be very tenderly of you and your children and bless your good work.

  Do come back to us very soon, we are in great need of you. I am like one blind. Do not let me fall down in the darkness. Come and lead me on the right road.

  Your loving pupil

  SON KLIN. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.

  In 1873 when he attained his majority King Chulalongkorn temporarily resigned his crown and kingdom to enter the priesthood for fifteen days, as was the custom. This act entailed—also according to custom—a new coronation, which took place on November 16, 1873.

  On that morning the sudden blaring of bands from behind the high white walls of the Palace, the roar of cannon, told the people of Bangkok that their King had been recrowned. In the Hall of Audience the princes and nobles were prostrate on the carpeted floor. Every head was bowed. As the deafening noise quieted His Majesty stepped upon the platform of the throne to read the first proclamation of his new reign. It was an edict to end prostration:

  Siamese civil era, 1235, in the year of the Cock, the 12th moon, the 12th day of the waning.

  His Majesty Prabat
Somdet Phra Paramenthara Maha Chulalongkorn … and the greater and lesser princes, the Senabodi, the Ministers of State, greater and lesser, military and civil, being in solemn audience in their respective places, His Majesty announced the royal mandate.… Whatever is oppressive and burdensome, it has been the Royal purpose to remove from the people, and abolish from the state.… In this kingdom of Siam there are some national customs that are rigorous, hostile to good usage, and ought to be modified; but the changing and modifying of customs cannot be effected at once; such changes must be the subject of much thought and gradual modification.…

  The custom of prostration and human worship in Siam, is manifestly an oppressive exaction which an inferior must perform to a superior, causing him embarrassing fatigue.… This custom His Majesty perceives is a primary cause of many existing oppressive exactions, therefore, this ancient national custom, which made prostration the prescribed method of demonstrating respect in Siam, must be abolished;… His Majesty proposes to substitute in the place of crouching and crawling, standing and walking; and instead of prostration on all-fours and bowing with palm-joined hands to the ground, a graceful bow of the head.…

  When the King concluded the reading, princes, nobles, and ministers performed three profound salaams, as had been the custom, and then in perfect order rose to their feet and stood before their sovereign for the first time.

  With these reforms the King fulfilled Anna’s early hopes of him and set the seal of final accomplishment on her efforts in Siam.

  Anna herself was busy with a new life. Her first article describing some of her experiences at the court of King Mongkut appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, in June, 1869, and was followed by The English Governess at the Siamese Court and The Romance of the Harem. Instantly she was in demand as a lecturer. The way was open for her to meet the most distinguished literary personalities of New York. She became acquainted with Sarah Orne Jewett, James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Julia Ward Howe, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, whom she had so long admired. In 1872 she met Harriet Beecher Stowe at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James T. Fields. She wrote to Avis that Mrs. Stowe, “a strong but plain woman, very handsomely dressed,” embraced her as if she had known her for a lifetime.

  The years passed swiftly. There were financial worries, but many compensations. Avis graduated from school and opened a kindergarten in New York. Anna continued to write, teach, lecture, until Avis married Mr. Thomas Fyshe, a young Scottish banker, and went to Halifax to live in 1878. In their Canadian home Mrs. Leonowens spent the rest of her life.

  Louis, in the meantime, left school in Ireland and came to the United States. But he was not satisfied. He told his mother that “America is played out,” and departed for Australia where he entered the police force. But his was a restless spirit, and in 1882 he returned to Siam. King Chulalongkorn made him an officer in the cavalry, and sent word to Mrs. Leonowens through the Siamese Consul that he had been happy to do so for her sake.

  In 1881, after the assassination of Alexander II, she was sent to Russia by The Youth’s Companion to write a series of articles. The editors offered her a permanent position on their staff but she declined. She had found that, much as she liked New York and Boston, she could not bear to be away from her new grandchildren for more than a few months.

  It was on a trip to New York that she had the joy of meeting again Prince Krita, Son Klin’s son, now H.R.H. Prince Nares and Ambassador to England. He had come on a special embassy to the United States and had sent word ahead that he wished to see her. She wrote to Avis in Halifax from New York on May 19, 1884, describing her meeting with the prince:

  I went immediately after breakfast this morning to the Fifth Avenue Hotel, where the Embassy is staying, and sent up my card. Presently Mr. Loftus, a very polite English gentleman, interpreter and private secretary to the prince, came down and conducted me to the prince’s private drawing room. Here I had hardly taken my seat when in rushed dear Krita Phinihan, and, putting his arms around my neck, embraced me just as he used to do when a little boy. I was quite overcome with joy at his enthusiastic reception of me.… After the first eager greetings were over, the prince and I talked about Siam. He said that if I went back there now I would hardly know the place, or the people, so changed were they in almost every respect: prostration, slavery, imprisonment of wife or child for the husband or father’s debts were all abolished; that new roads and canals were built, schools endowed wherein all European and Oriental instruction was taught.… He also added that all this was the result of my teaching the present King and the royal family. You can imagine my delight in listening to him, hearing him converse thus; partly in Siamese and partly in English.… I enquired by name for most of my late pupils, and I rejoiced to find that no less than ten of the princes occupied at this moment high official positions under the present King and that he himself held one of the very highest—Minister of Foreign Affairs. He told me to my great delight that Louis was doing good work and making himself useful to the King in every way, that his men were devoted to him and that he now not only spoke but read Siamese quite fluently.… He told me that the King had desired him to enquire for me, and to try to see me, adding: “Mem, if you want any money at any time you must let His Majesty know for he says that all that he ever learned of good in his life you taught him.”

  Thirty years after she left Siam in 1867 Anna Leonowens saw her most distinguished pupil again. She was on her way to Leipzig with the older of Avis’ children when King Chulalongkorn arrived in London. She had an interview with him there on August 19, 1897, at two-fifteen in the afternoon. It was another memorable day in her life.

  The King had reigned for twenty-nine years, a grave, quiet, determined man who had accomplished much against great odds. The nobles whose privileges he had curtailed had secretly opposed him. The French had continued their depredations, seizing further territory on the slightest pretext. Nevertheless the work of reform had gone on. Schools had been established all over the kingdom. Missionaries had been encouraged in their efforts to start hospitals and schools. Transportation facilities were improved. The law courts had been reorganized. Gradually, educated officials were taking the places of the old feudal administrators. The whole system of government had been reorganized. The military forces were being modernized. Young men were being sent abroad for study, and teachers from Europe and America were being imported. Already in his lifetime the Siamese were beginning to say that Chulalongkorn was their greatest king. When he moved about Bangkok in formal procession they scattered rice mixed with flowers in his path—their highest tribute.

  It was thus with a feeling of deep gratitude and humility that Anna heard him say it was through the principles laid down in her teaching that he had formed the plans by which he had transformed his kingdom. He had kept his determination to recreate a free Siam. It had not been easy. There was much still to do. But in Siam the current of change was running deep and strong and true, full of promise for the future, because it was a change based on the idea of the worth of a human being as Anna had helped instill it into the monarch—a change based on democratic principles.

  Anna looked into the future of the country where she had spent the most difficult years of her life and was content.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Margaret Landon (1903–1993) was an American author best known for her bestselling novel Anna and the King of Siam, which inspired the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I. After graduating from Wheaton College in Illinois in 1925, she married Kenneth Landon, a seminary student, and worked briefly as a schoolteacher. In 1927, Landon and her husband volunteered to serve as Presbyterian missionaries in Siam (present-day Thailand), where she learned of Anna Leonowens, the nineteenth-century governess and tutor to the royal family of Siam. Landon’s novel based on Leonowens’s life has sold over one million copies and been translated into more than twenty languages.

  All rights reserved, including witho
ut limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1943, 1944 by Margaret Mortenson Landon

  Cover design by Andrea Worthington

  ISBN: 978-1-5040-3855-3

  This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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