V
LENGTHENING CORDS AND STRENGTHENING
STAKES
A direct effect of this growing interest in science was to show the value of Western education in such a way as to create a demand for the educational work of the mission. Not satisfied with their own enlightenment several of these progressive nobles requested Dr. House to tutor their sons in English with a view to instruction in science. As early as 1847, before the doctor himself could devote time to such work, Mrs. Mattoon had undertaken to tutor Kuhn Gnu, the son of the Praklang.
While at the tract house one day the doctor caught a glimpse of the desire and capacity of the common people for learning. A boy applied for a book. Knowing that the lad had received one the previous day, the doctor began to catechise him on that volume before giving him another. He was surprised to find that in a day’s time the boy had mastered the details of the story of Elijah. Upon this the doctor observes: “Now this is in effect, as far as it goes, a school and a Christian school, where more knowledge is imparted perhaps than would be in a regular school.”
Under the régime of the old king no regular school was possible, not only because the monarch was antipathetic to western ideas but because the Siamese had no common desire for education.
“It is next to impossible to interest the native Siamese in education, because it is the custom for all boys to enter a watt as novitiates for the priesthood, and as such are taught to read; but to read is the limit of their ambition.”
The quickening of an interest in science among the upper classes proved to be the awakening of some of the younger generation to the desirableness of a broader education than the priests ever thought of giving.
The first mention of a school as a proposed department of the mission occurs as an entry in the journal on the first anniversary of the arrival in Siam, when the doctor records briefly: “Plans for interesting and instructing the young Siamese were discussed.”
Looking back over the course of affairs it is apparent that the embryo of the mission school was the receiving of some children into the homes of the missionaries to be taught, while assisting in house work. As early as 1848 Mrs. Mattoon, with an eagerness to do something to elevate the condition of child-life, succeeded in obtaining two girls for this purpose, one of whom she named Nancy, after her own mother, and one Abby, after the mother of Dr. House. Later another was added, whom she named Esther.
In the next year Dr. House had apprenticed to him a Chinese lad of thirteen named Ati, the nephew of his Hainanese laundryman. The boy was bound for a period of three years, during which he was to act as a house servant in return for instruction in English. As a matter of fact this boy remained in connection with the mission for a much longer period. The part played by these children was not simply a demonstration of their capacity for a Western education but, even more importantly, they formed a nucleus around which to organise a formal school later. Until time was ripe for such an undertaking the missionaries could only try in the most experimental way to develop interest in education among the common people with whom they came into more intimate contact.
Although Dr. House fitted himself for the medical profession, he found that by taste and aptitude he was essentially a teacher. His fixed purpose was to impart to the Siamese the Christian truth about God and about salvation, confident that this truth would awaken the sleeping conscience. His discontent with his profession was to a large extent because it hindered him from the more direct propagation of the Gospel. Observation early disclosed to him, what other educators had discerned elsewhere, that the chief obstacle to the consideration of the spiritual message of Christianity was the false cosmogony as held by the people.
Their idea of the universe was based upon a total ignorance of many common facts of nature, an ignorance which completely excluded from their minds the idea of a spiritual God. They were so obsessed with fallacies about natural phenomena that there was but small common basis of physical knowledge upon which the missionaries could build an argument to dispose of these grotesque ideas. For instance, the popular explanation of a lunar eclipse was that a great dragon was trying to swallow the moon. When an eclipse occurred, the people would set up a din of kettles and drums to scare away the dragon. Since the moon always escaped, the people were the more confirmed in their belief. Then there was the old notion of the earth being flat. In the midst of the earth was a great central mountain, whence Buddha had come, surrounded by a vast plain; and inasmuch as Siam occupied the middle of this plain, obviously there could be no other greater country. Before truth could penetrate such an armour of ignorance, it was necessary that nature be stripped of these false ascriptions in order that there might be a common ground upon which to consider the arguments for the Christian faith.
In the presentation of Dr. House’s message there can be traced an orderly philosophy which reflects this situation. First he sought to remove some of these false ideas by pointing out common facts of nature which the natives had never observed. Next he sought to explain the conception of God as Creator. From this he led on to the love and mercy of God as revealed by Jesus. As a practical sequence he aimed to give an elementary education to the few who would receive it so as to demonstrate the Christian way of life. This meant in the course of time the development of a system of education.
SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS
Dr. House was peculiarly fitted for this work, for he had been providentially prepared to draw upon a wide range of scientific instruction. His years at Rensselaer Institute had developed his taste for natural philosophy and had given him a lifelong interest in the progress of science. His study of medicine had qualified him in practical chemistry, while his few years of teaching gave him needed experience in laboratory demonstrations. While trying some experiments with gas in Siam he recalls “occasions of the same kind at Rensselaer school and in the Virginia school.” Busy as he was, he managed to keep abreast of scientific progress through the journals of science, and was forward to adopt new ideas as he found them. In March, 1847, he writes:
“In evening read account of inhaling ether as a means of enabling one to perform surgical operations without pain to the patient. A wonderful discovery truly—inestimable in its benefit to the suffering of our race—and the author of it was an American.”
At the first opportunity he applied the new idea to a patient in surgery:
“Old woman of eighty-four; piece of bamboo eight inches had entered her flesh, remaining still unextracted. O, how I wished I had an apparatus for inhaling ether—I prepared an extempore one.”
In 1851 he reads of “a new way devised in Paris by suspending a pendulum from high dome to trace and render visible the motion of the earth on its axis”; and after a private experiment, straightway he makes the demonstration for his science-loving Siamese friends.
Like many missionaries, Dr. House was a student of nature, contributing to other scholars his observations. He was a member of the “American Oriental Society.” He was a correspondent of the naturalist, Mr. John C. Bowring, at Hong Kong, son of the diplomat, for whom he undertook to collect and forward specimens of Siamese insects and shells; and in this pursuit he became the discoverer of two varieties of shells previously unknown to naturalists, to which his name has been given, “Cyclostoria Housei” and “Spiraculum Housei.” In his volume on Siam, Mr. George B. Bacon, speaking of the flora and fauna of Siam, remarks:
“The work of scientific observation and classification has been, as yet, only imperfectly accomplished. Much has been done by the missionaries, especially by Dr. House, of the American Presbyterian Mission, who is a competent scientific observer.”
In his modesty he was surprised to find that his activities in this line were known in Europe. Dining at the Prussian Embassy at Bangkok, in 1862, he was introduced to the son of Chevalier Bunsen, who remarked that “he had heard of Dr. House in Europe; he has given his name to a new species of shell; he was the first to make Siamese shells known to the world.” When Dr. Lane left Siam, in 1855, Dr. House took over from him and continued the meteorological observations because “it may be valuable by-and-by for the Siamese.” On one occasion he had a bit of amusing chagrin in trying to determine the elevation of a mountain. He had constructed a new thermometer for himself and proposed to estimate the altitude by ascertaining the boiling point. After carefully explaining the theory to his native companions, placing the kettle on the fire, he eagerly watched for the first sign of boiling. To his astonishment the thermometer indicated that the chosen position, instead of being several hundred feet above the sea, must be many feet down below the earth’s surface—and then he discovered that there was a fault in his thermometer.
EARLY TOURS
For his eagerness to lengthen the reach of his arm and to extend the range of his voice, Dr. House found some satisfaction in occasional tours into the surrounding country. These were at once a relief from the exacting daily routine of the dispensary, a physical recreation, and an exploration of the regions seldom visited by Europeans. The first trip of any distance was made in company with Rev. Jesse Caswell during February, 1848, when the two took a ten day trip through the canals eastward to Petrui on the Bang Pakong River. In the next November, with Rev. Asa Hemmenway, he toured for a week to the west up the Meklong, with Rapri as the turning point.
These early journeys were veritable explorations. The boatmen seldom knew the country more than two days’ distance from the capital. The doctor, in real explorer fashion, picked up in advance what little information he could, sketched rude maps and then on the journey directed or verified the course of the boat with a pocket compass. His technical knowledge served to great advantage. For future use, he records the directions by compass reading, the rate of speed and the distances as shown by the log, and notes natural objects which serve as landmarks. His skill at map making having been disclosed, some of the state officials requested him to draw, for their use, maps of the regions explored; and in discussing these with them he found that the officials were almost totally ignorant of the topography of the king’s domain away from the main water courses.
As these tours were all conducted on the same general plan, the description of one will suffice for all. A native long-boat was used, having a low cylindrical canopy of matting at the center to afford some protection from the sun. A crew of six or eight men would man the oars, or push with poles in shallow canals or in the rapids. The travelling ordinarily would begin before daybreak; during the heat of the day the party would stop for meals and for rest; then late in the afternoon the voyage would be resumed, continuing till dark. If out over Sunday the travellers were scrupulous to observe the day; seeking, if possible, a desirable location for the day of rest, but sometimes tying up in disagreeable places rather than push on in the early hours of the Sabbath.
The watts, or temple grounds, ubiquitous in the country, serve as caravansaries for travellers; their roofs and trees offering free shelter for wayfarers. As these watts were also the seats of learning, the missionaries always found an opportunity to present their printed page and to engage in conversation on religion. Books were offered to all met with along the way; to the fishermen seeking their game in the early morning hours, to the women working in the rice fields, to the labourers at the sugar presses, to the farmers in their garden patches, to the villagers in the hamlets through which they so frequently passed, and to the priests and novitiates at the watts. Some were too busy to bother with the proffered gift; some would accept with passive interest; some would accept with marked interest and open a fire of questions. Still others, after discovering the nature of the gift received by their friends would pursue the voyagers, and swim out to the boat in eagerness for a book. Time did not suffice to enter into conversation, for the purpose was to scatter the seed as far as possible, so the boat would keep under way while packages were cast out on the land or into passing boats. At the noon stop, if natives did not gather around as usual, the doctor would start off to the nearest hamlet with a bag of books, sheltering himself under a large umbrella. Then would ensue the familiar yet ever different conversation about the Gospel.
TO PETCHABURI
After he became familiar with the methods, the doctor was ready to make long tours, once freed from the restricting cares of the dispensary. The married men did not find it convenient to leave their wives and young children for a long period so that this work was largely taken up by the doctor, who gained a keen relish for it. In December, 1848, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Mattoon, Dr. House set out with two boats for Petchaburi, the capital of the province by that name on the western peninsula. The trip had several points of interest.
In the first place the Lieutenant-Governor of the province had come to Dr. House for medical treatment a few months after his arrival; and being pleased with his treatment, invited the doctor to come to Petchaburi. Upon his recommendation the Governor of the province also, while in Bangkok, came to the mission house, curious to see the skeleton which the doctor had. The Governor manifested such an interest and friendliness that Dr. House resolved to visit the provincial capital and discover the possibilities of mission work. Arriving at Petchaburi, they called upon the two officials and offered to them gifts of foreign articles. When they were about to leave for home, the officials in return sent very generous presents of fruit and sugar to their boats. In later years the under-governor, having been promoted, made earnest solicitation for the missionaries to teach English in his capital, and as an inducement offered freedom to teach religion.
Another item of interest was of a different sort. Having learned that the original home of the Siamese twins was in the village of Meklong, near the head of the Gulf of Siam, the Americans sought out the family. They found only one brother living there, and learned that a sister was living in Bangkok, while the mother had died a year previously. The brother expressed a longing to see his brothers again or to hear from them; and at the doctor’s own suggestion he wrote a letter to the absent twins, dictated by the brother. It told of the pious wish of the dying mother for them “to do merit for her spirit.” Some years later, when Rev. Daniel McGilvary visited the twins in their home in South Carolina, they spoke of receiving this letter.
TO PRABAT
In the winter of 1849 Dr. House and Mr. Hemmenway made a trip to Prabat, about one hundred miles to the northeast of the capital. This place is the site of a watt erected over an imprint in the rock, reputed to have been made by the footstep of Buddha. At that particular season of the year multitudes come from all parts of the kingdom to do homage to this “shadow” of Buddha. The doctor gives quite a detailed description of his experiences:
“A rocky mount, covered with a pagoda, rose before us to the height of three hundred to four hundred feet. On a lower elevation in front of this peak is the famous foot print; over which stands a very beautiful tho excessively ornamented structure, with elegant pillars on a side supporting a pagoda-like gilded roof, towering up seven stories, gracefully diminishing till they terminated in a handsome golden spire. On a rocky summit on the left stood a small pagoda, and on the right a higher eminence was crowned with a similar sightly structure. Before it was a long flight of stone steps leading up to the platform on which it stood. We ascended these steps, crossed a little court, entered another a little higher—and without ceremony entered the half-open door of the sanctuary before we were forbidden. Had we delayed a moment perhaps we should have lost the opportunity and had the gates closed against us. But we were in and made as good use of our eyes as we could during the few moments we were allowed to continue. More than one voice was raised in the silence that had prevailed within, saying to us we must go out, go out, or else kneel down and worship. One man with an air of authority came up and took us by the shoulder, ordering us roughly to take off our hats and shoes. So we went out.
“But we had seen the grave-like opening at the bottom of which the sacred footstep is said to be, though covered as it was with broad pieces of gold leaf and cloth of gold, and women kneeling low before it in an attitude of profound homage. The pavement of the room is of solid silver, the square blocks smoothly polished by the votaries as they pass in and out on knees. The footstep is said to receive annually a great amount of gold, while offerings of rings and other articles of value are thrown into the opening not infrequently.”
Leaving the sanctuary the visitors climbed on up to the top of the hill to survey the country. Returning, Dr. House became separated from his companion; and as he approached the scene of the fabled footprint, he stopped to look at the elegant pagoda. Soon a crowd gathered around him, and in answer to a priest he explained why they had not worshiped before the footprint. Some were wondering at his garments; others were wondering at the unheard-of boldness in resolutely keeping on a hat while on holy ground. While he was talking, a rude push from someone behind and then yells from a hundred throats gave a threatening aspect to the situation. Fortunately, at that critical moment, a Bangkok priest, an old acquaintance, recognised him and was not afraid to come to the rescue. He then withdrew in safety, and finding Mr. Hemmenway, the two returned to their elephants and took up the journey to the boats. In the narrative of this trip Dr. House records having come upon a boy of about fourteen years, born without arms or legs, but perfect in other respects. The arm-bone was projected about four inches, covered with skin, calloused at the end from use. The boy could not raise or feed himself, but could make slight change of position by rotating alternately on each thigh.
A number of tours were taken in the dry seasons of ’49 and ’50. One through inland waterways to the Bang Pakong River and thence northward above Nakonnayok, meeting many Lao people living on the river-bottom farm lands. Another to a point some two hundred miles up the Meinam, and a year later yet another trip was made as far as Paknampo, some three hundred miles up the same stream, and thence two days’ journey up the right fork of the Meinam.