Whatever his ideas may have been on that point there is no doubt that he was fully alive to the advantages which would accrue to the kingdom from commerce. Otherwise the Dutch, the masters of the Malay Peninsula, would have been the arbiters of the fate of the Indies the kings of which needed an alliance to counterbalance the power of these formidable republicans. Their dangerous proximity was the lure the minister made use of to bring the king round to his ideas. The Bishops, newly arrived in Siam gave such glowing accounts of Louis XIV that the Siamese monarch was greatly flattered by the prospect of obtaining so illustrious an ally. A pompous announcement of the list of presents sent was made, but fearing lest these gifts might be seized by the Dutch who at this time were at war with France, it had been decided to leave them at Bantam. This delay might have been fatal in a court ruled by avarice, and it was to be feared that over-zealous courtiers, jealous of the favour in which the prelates were held, took every opportunity of doing them harm by declaring that they were secretly plotting to possess themselves of these presents. The king anxious to receive these gifts was persuaded that he would receive them in due course; but hardly had the vessel set sail, than the Dutch caring naught for the King of Siam seized the presents as a prize of war. The Court of Siam broke out in threats at this audacious act; but the Dutch, too powerful to fear any act of reprisal, foresaw a rupture from which nothing was to be gained. So in order to depreciate the high ideal the Siamese had of Louis XIV., they craftily restored all the gifts of small worth, but retained those which were valuable so as to belittle the offering of the King of France. The King of Siam, hearing of this act of bad faith was only the more eager to hasten the projected alliance, and, to ensure its consummation, he pretended to have decided leanings towards Christianity. The Buddhist temples were closed and those who disobeyed this order were severely punished. The King was pleased to hear the Bishops discourse on Christianity. His gifts helped to embellish the Seminary. He caused a gilt throne to be carried there, the magnificence of which seemed to indicate the respect for the doctrines there promulgated. On the cessation of hostilities between the Dutch and the French, ambassadors were chosen to bear a reply to the French monarch. The King built a church at his own expense. This edifice still remains and the memory of its founder made it to respected by the persecutors of the followers of Christ. The people, free to select a religion, would have ranged themselves under the banner of the Gospel, if the chief minister had not secretly disobeyed the order of his master.