The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

62 Benjamin A. Batson
Late in 1867 the Siam Weekly Monitor began to publish serious
charges against Hood, the nature of which is obscure.s2 Bradley recorded
in his journal entry of December 25, 1867: 83
The weekly Monitor is filled with a terrible disclosure of Consul
Hood's conduct while occupying the station of American
Consul in Bangkok . . . . The disclosure is probably nearly all
true.... There can be little doubt that Mr. Hood wiii
succumb to the terrible blow he has received.
On December 30 Bradley noted:
Counsul Hood bas an auction and sells all his goods, evidently
preparing for a final leave of the Consulate and of the country.
1t is but too true that be bas run himself entirely out of good
character, if he ever truly had any.
And on January 3, 1868, Bradley reported Hood's departure:
He was·manifestly in a hurry to get away. Perhaps it was
with the hope of escaping retributive justice, for it is but too
true that be bas been a great oppressor among us.
By Bradley's account, Hood's departure from Siam was final, but Hood
reported to the Department of State only that he was going home on
leave. In July of 1868 and February ofl869 Hood wrote from Washington
and DeKalb, Illinois, respectively, asking for extensions of his leave
because of illness, and in March of 1869 he finally resigned his post. 84
On leaving Bangkok, Hood named the Rev. Noah A. McDonald as
vice-consul, and the Bangkok Consulate came once again into the hands
of a local missionary. McDonald. was a Presbyterian who bad arrived
82) The Siam Weekly Monitor, which published only in 1866 (?), 1867, and 1868,
is not known to have been preserved. Earlier the Monitor had challenged the
legality of Hood's Chinese protege operation, whic)l may or may not be related
to the later charges. (Bangkok Despatches, July 22, 1867.)
83) The quotations are from Feltus, ed., Bradley's Journal, under the dates indicated.
Bradley, of course, had particular reason to be critical of Hood.
84) Bangkok Despatches, January 1, 1868; July 9, 18 68 (misfiled in 1867); February
22, 1869; and March 4, 1869. In a despatch of June 12, 1867, Hood had
asked for home leave for health reasons, which the Department had granted.