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

E.'(1hitu>n of Books}'rom the L·ollection o[M.L :Wan it .lumsa; 69
Siam in 1688 (# L 5-L 6 ). 111is gave a balanced
description of .the kingdom. second only in
objectivity and thoroughness co La I.oubt!re's
voltune of L 69 L. Gc,·vaisc was born in Paris
about 1662 and was orrlnined a pries! before he
wa.s 20. 1-((' was s..:nt to Siam with the energetic
missionary, Mgr Pallu. Aficr returning to t=rancc,
he became a cure in Briunny. and 1hen moved
to Tours, whcr..: he \VTOW his hook on S i ~un and
nnorher on the Kingdom uf Makas$ur (it is not
kn(lwn if he ever wem th ere ~ but he brought
back to Fnmcc the two sons of the Mako.ssar
prioce who \Vas defeated a.l\cr rl'volting m
t\ yutLhaya in 1686). He went to Rome. in L 724.
was made titular Bishop of Horren, and then
lefl for what 1S now Venezuela, when.! he was
killed by Carib Indians in I 729.
The pub l i~hed accounts of the activities of
th ..: French missionarics. appei.lring under the
f\lbl'ic of 1he Relation des 1~1i~sio ns et des
Voyages df's £!resques Vicoires Apusruliques
. . . from 107-:! to 1677,a..;;wcllasRishopPallu"s
volume with the same Litk (Pans, Bcdtct. I 66X)
and Nou~uettc' s account of I heir acuviues for
1681-1683 (Chartres, Mnssot, I 6831. some of
which al'l! represented h\!rc (#3 . 6). arc also
informative about Siam. though none sought to
gi vc the ovcn icw Gervaise managed 1 ll) achic-\rc.
\Vith Gerva ise's book on..: rcacbcs the
cataclysmic year 1()88, though no o n~ in Fraucc
was a\varc or the 1:\'Cnts in Siam from May to
NQvcm ber tlult year unt il the fo llowing
November. The rare English account {H20) with
the arresting tillc A full and true ~·elatiq,, of the
great and \a.·oruh