The native mind is being directed to this subject as never before. A striking proof of this fact is, that the queen, who is a most zealous Buddhist, is now having a large and beautiful school-building put up as a monument to her royal sister, who was drowned two years ago. This building is not yet finished, and it is not known just how it is to be managed; but it certainly seems to mark a new era, as heretofore Buddhist temples were the only memorial buildings in the country. One great question for the near future seems to be, What kind of influences will mould and shape this new educational work? Will it be the English moralist, the French Jesuit, the German infidel or the American Christian? The king plainly intimated his wishes when he asked a missionary to take charge of the school under his own patronage. And while at that time there were hardly missionaries enough in Siam to hold on to the direct mission-work, still the hope of securing the vantage-ground for Christianity was such that the request could not be refused. And although, as yet, direct religious instruction cannot be a part of the daily routine of the school-room, there is no need to be in haste. Much must first be done to disarm prejudice and to conciliate the minds of conservative Buddhists, and prove to them that the missionaries are _true_ friends, who labor for the highest welfare of the country. When that shall be made evident, more liberty will be accorded to Christian instructors. Some of the members of the royal family are afraid to trust the heir-apparent and his royal brothers to the influence of Christianity; so a Calcutta Brahman has been employed and a school started in the palace. A friend went to visit this school one day, and the teacher handed some writing-books to the visitor to let him see how well the little princes could write. Almost the first page he looked at had this as a copy: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This shows what unexpected means God sometimes takes to teach the truths of his own word, and how foolish it is for any one to suppose that the English language can be learned without learning the religion of Jesus at the same time. May this not be the great good that God in his providence means to bring out of this universal desire for a knowledge of the English language? It is so full of Christianity that to know the one is to know the other. May we not hope that our mother-tongue may some day become the language of all nations, and that Christianity may be the religion of the world? [Illustration: A FEW OF THE CHILDREN OF THE LATE FIRST KING OF SIAM.] CHAPTER XII. _HOLIDAYS IN SIAM._