In this year of 1683 there came to Don Juan de Vargas an envoy extraordinary from the king of Siám, and from his barcalón (or prime minister in all the kingdom), who was a Greek and very Catholic, named Constantius Falcón. The envoy was a religious of the order of our father St. Augustine, a native of Lisboa, named Fray Estebán Sousa; [he was formerly] a lecturer on theology in the convent of Évora, and had been rector at Goa and visitor for Macán, and was a religious of great learning and greater virtue. It seems that one of the things solicited by the barcalón Constantius Falcón was, to retire to Manila with his family and all his wealth, which was great, on account of his being the royal favorite and having great influence with the king of Siám--who, although a barbarian and very superstitious, as are all that people, had a very amiable disposition and much esteem for Europeans. Sargento-mayor Don Francisco de Moya, with whom Constantius was on very intimate terms, dissuaded him from this purpose; and certainly the arguments which he brought forward were reasonable, based on the extreme and incredible power of the governors of Manila, which is very unfriendly to the possessor of much wealth, as has been confirmed by experience. I could set down here many instances of this which have occurred in my own time; but I omit this, as being a matter that is both delicate and offensive. It would have been very prudent on the part of Constantius to have retired from Siám; for within a few years the king died, and his successor was not so kind and well-intentioned. This king inflicted on Constantius a most cruel death, and appropriated his enormous wealth, which, according to report, was counted by millions. It is true that Constantius was very guilty, for he had formed an alliance with the French, and was planning to surrender to them the kingdom of Siám; and for this purpose he had corresponded with the king of France, who sent many Frenchmen for this enterprise--which ended very badly, and cost most of them their lives; and the missionary bishops suffered very great privations. The intention of Constantius was a good one; it was, to establish the Catholic faith in Siám, for which he had built some churches. For the adornment of these, he sent [orders] through the said Don Francisco de Moya for many chalices, monstrances, and vessels of silver covered with gold, to be wrought in Nueva España; on account of his death, these were sold in Manila, and now they are in many churches of these islands. Only his wife escaped--a Japanese woman, a very good Christian--and a son of his, who went to Francia, where the most Christian king conferred honors on him, and gave him an income and the title of count.