Page 224 - A History of Siam

210 A HISTORY OF SIAM
on September 27th, 1687. This embassy was far more
than that of de Chaumont. The
imposing envoys,
de la Loub&re and Cbert, were accompanied by three
men-of-war and four other ships, conveying 1,400
French soldiers and 300 artificers, commanded by
Monsieur Des Farges, a Marshal of France. The
and commercial elements were also
religious fully
represented.
It is not clear whether King Narai expected so large
a but his difficulties with the East India
force, Company
made him more disposed to welcome them than might
otherwise have been the case. To us, at the present
it seems like an act of madness on his to admit
day, part
so many foreign troops into his Kingdom. It was not,
however, until after the world had beheld with amaze-
ment the of and Clive in India that it
exploits Dupleix
was understood with what comparative ease a clever and
capable man, backed by a few well-disciplined European
could overcome an Oriental 1 In
troops, Kingdom. 1687
the idea that France could do any serious harm to
Siam with 1,400 men would probably have seemed as
to Louis XIV as to Narai. A hundred
grotesque King
later the feat would have seemed far more
years
possible.
The French envoys brought with them a French
of for Phaulkon. He became a Count
patent nobility
and a Knight of the Order of St. Michael and St. Peter.
Many valuable gifts were also sent to him by King
Louis and Pope Innocent XL
The French
troops were not, wisely, all kept together.
They were sent to man various forts, for instance,
Bangkok, and, as we have seen, Mergui.
1
These remarks, it need hardly be said, are not intended to apply to present-
day conditions in countries such as Japan and Siam, which have modernised
their systems of defence.