In 1851 the King fell ill, and, in spite of the promise to his brother, wished to appoint one of his own sons as his successor; but he was answered that the country had already a sovereign; and, on his decease, Prince Chao-Fa mounted the throne, under the name of Somdet Phra. Mgr. Pallegoix addressed to him a letter of congratulation, and presented him with a portrait of Louis Napoleon, then President of the French Republic. The King, in return, made him a gift of money, and revoked the decree of banishment against the five Catholic priests; and at an audience granted to the bishop before his departure for Europe, in 1852, he charged him with messages to Prince Louis Napoleon and the Pope,--intrusting to him an autograph letter for the latter, written in English, and expressing a great regard for his Holiness, as well as his resolution to grant full toleration in his kingdom to the Catholic religion. He also declared to the archbishop[5] his intention of assuring to his subjects entire religious liberty, with which view he made inquiries from time to time respecting the work of the Catholic missionaries, so as to protect the converted natives against the heathen governors. From that time the friendship with France has never been interrupted, but has become more and more intimate. [5] Mgr. Pallegoix died April, 1862, at Bangkok, where the king had him buried with great pomp. TREATY WITH FRANCE. Negotiations were commenced at Bangkok in 1856, in the name of the French Government, which terminated in a highly satisfactory manner, a treaty of friendship and commerce being signed on the 15th August between the two countries, which was ratified in the following year. The reception accorded to M. de Montigny, the French envoy, on this occasion by the two kings, was as brilliant as it was cordial; nor was he entertained less kindly by any of the authorities with whom he came in contact, which proved that Siam has preserved a pleasing remembrance of the embassies exchanged with Louis XIV. All this augured favourably for the future friendly relations between the two Crowns; and these were confirmed in the year 1861, when his Siamese Majesty sent an embassy to Paris, where it arrived in June, and was received with great magnificence. [Illustration: Drawn by M. Bocourt from a photograph SIAMESE LADIES AT DINNER.] COMMERCE.