Storia do Mogor 335.5.2

335.5.2

'I have found the kingdom of Siam in a very different condition from that I saw it in twenty years ago. In those days it was very flourishing, and there was considerable trade. Now it is in a miserable state, and abandoned by almost all the other nations. Nothing comes here but a few Chinese vessels, or some from Bengal and Surat, and these even, once they have been here, never come back a second time. Things were in this state in the reign of the old king, who died at the beginning of the year 1703. 'The chief prince, who has succeeded to him, appears to have the desire of treating traders better than his father did. He urges all foreign nations to come and establish themselves in his kingdom, and to induce them to come he makes very advantageous offers. He has declared to me more than once that he would have the greatest pleasure at seeing some Frenchmen in his country. He would allow them to settle where they liked; he would protect them; he would give to them the same privileges as to the Dutch. He insisted that I must write to this effect to France and to India. I have done so in order not to displease him, although I am fully persuaded that not very much heed will be paid to his offers. 'If he had pushed his generosity to the point of ceding Mergui, they might have been more disposed to renew the intercourse between France and Siam. But it is not a thing they dream of here, and it would be deceiving oneself to look for anything of the sort.