Untitled - Sabrizain.org

SIAM. 271
liar privileges, as an inducement to settle in his dominions
; and they came in such swarms, that a third
of the population of Siam is now said to be Chinese.
Pe-ya-tac conducted himself for some time with exemplary
moderation, and his memory is still honoured
for his regard of justice. In the latter part of his
reign, however, a sordid avarice took possession of his
mind, and impelled him to the commission of several
acts of cruelty. The natural consequence was a conspiracy,
headed by the father of the late monarch,*
who, having put to death the tyrant, took possession
of the undisputed throne. He died in 1782.
The first public act of his son and successor was an
inauspicious commencement of his reign. He was
scarcely seated on the throne, when he put to death
his nephew Chaw Pha, with upwards of a hundred
nobles, who were supposed to be in his interest. The
odium occasioned by this sanguinary proceeding, he
contrived to avert by his subsequent good conduct ; but
he was probably indebted, in no small degree,to inces-
sant wars with the Birmans for the domestic tran-
quillity of his reign. It is understood that, since
Mr. Crawfurd's mission to Siam in 1821, he has been
succeeded by his illegitimate son, Chroma Chit, who
commenced his reign by allowing a general freedom of
trade both to his subjects and foreigners, except in the
articles of fire-arms, opium, and a few other royal
monopolies.
As the greater part of our information respecting
the present state of Siam is derived from the published
accounts of the mission, from the Governor-general
of India to the court of Bankok, in 1821, we shall now
The monarch who was
Mr. Crawfurd's mission.
reigning in 1822, at the time of
PART II.
R