The government is theoretically a duarchy, practi- cally a monarchy, for although there is a second or vice king, the first or senior king is actual sovereign. The crown is hereditary, and is bequeathed, with the sanction of the nobles, to any son of the queen. The second king seems to occupy the place of first counsel- lor, and is invariably consulted before taking any im- portant step. The council of state comprises the first king (as president); the ministers, who have no vote; from ten to twenty councillors, who have to draft new laws, and from their own number elect a vice-president; and six princes of the royal house. The country is di- vided into forty-one provinces, each of which is gov- erned by a phraya, or council of the first class.
in. History and Reliijion. — The early history of Siam is entirely unknown. In 1511 the Portuguese, after the conquest of Malacca by Albucjuerque, estab- lished an intercourse with Siam. In the IGth century Siam was for many years sidjject to the Burmans, but recovered its independence towards the close of the century. In 1604 the Dutch established relations; in 1612 the first English vessel went to Ayathia. To- wards the end of the 17th century a European advent- urer, a native of the island of Cephalonia, called Phaul- kon, gained the esteem of the king, and was by degrees promoted to an important offtce in the government. Through his persuasion an embassy was sent to Louis XIV of France, who sent two embassies to Siam in 1685 and 1687, and also a corps of .500 soldiers, who were put in possession of the fortress of Bangkok by Phaulkon. They were expelled in 1690. About 1760 the Burmans laid waste the country and took the capital, Ayathia. In 1782 the present dj-nasty ascended the throne, and transferred the seat of government to Bangkok. Trea- ties were made with the East India Company in 1822 and 1825, and with the United States in 18.^3.
The religion of the Siamese is Buddhism ; neverthe- IX.— Z z
less the lower classes, and in some respects the more enlightened, are profoundly superstitious. They have peopled their world with gods, daemons, and goblins. Over the "footprint of Buddha," on the P'hra Bat, is built a beautifid temple, to which crowds of ardent Buddhists perform long and painful journeys, and mill- ions of costly gifts are offered. The following account of missions is from Appletons' Cyclnpcedia (s. v.) : "Mis- sions have been carried on by the Koman Catholics, under the greatest vicissitudes, since the middle of the 16th century. The missionaries are French, and their converts were reckoned in 1872 at 10,000, in sixteen congregations. At the head of the mission is a vicar apostolic. Protestant missions date from the visits of GiUzlaff, Tomlin, and Abeel, in 1828 to 1831, and prop- erly from the settlement of .Jones in 1833. Missions have been established by the American Baptist Union, and by the American Board of Commissioners for For- eign Missions; and the American Missionary Associa- tion has established several Protestant congregations, schools, and religious papers. The number of the Bap- tist congregations in 187-1 was 15-1, and of Presbyte- rian, 38."
F^or literature, consult Crawfurd, Embassy to Siam and Cochin China (Lond. 1828j; Pallogoix, Description du Royaume Thai, ou Siam (Paris, 185-1); Bowring, Kingdom and People of Siam (Lond. 1857); Bastian, Reisen in Siam (Berlin, 18()7); Mrs. Leonowen, English Governess at the Siamese Court (Boston, 1870); M'Don- ald, Siam, its Government, etc. (Phila. 1871) ; Bacoii, Siam, etc. (N. Y. 1873) ; Vincent, Liand of the White Elephatit (ibid. 1874).
Siamese Version. Siamese is the language spoken in the kingdom of Siam, which embraces a large portion of the peninsula of India beyond the Ganges. Formerly tl>e language of the Siamese was called Su' yama phasa, the "Sa-yam language;" but since the reign of P'hra Ruang, who set his country free from the yoke of Cambodia, they cdll themselves T'hai, "free," and their language phasa T'hay or Tai, " the language of the freemen." As early as tlie year 1810 the design of providing Siam with a version of the four Gospels was entertained by the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Soci- ety, but it was not till the year 1846 that the transla- tion and publication of the entire New Test, in Siamese were completed. A second edition was published in 1850. (B. P.)
Sias, Solomon, a minister of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, was born at London, N. H., Feb. 25, 1781. He began to preach Sept. 25, 1805, and in 1806 was ad- mitted into the New England Conference on trial. He was ordained deacon by bishop Asbury in 1806, and elder in 1810. In 1828 he took a superannuated rela- tion, which he held, with the exception of one year, until his death at Newbury, Vt., F'eb. 12, 1853. See Minutes of Annual Conferences, 1853, p. 222.
Sib'becai (1 Chron. xi, 29; xxvii, 11) or Sib'- bechai (2 Sam. xxi, 18; 1 Chron. xx, 4) [some Sih- beca'i and Sibbecku'i] (Heb. Sibbekay', "^520, accord- ing to Gesenius and Flirst for il^ TI^D, thicket [i. e. people] of Jehovah, or Jehovah is a thicket [i. e. de- fence] ; but rather a weaver, for it is doubtful if the final "1 in such cases ever stands for the sacred name; Sept. '^o\io\ai v. r. 26/3o\;«, etc.; Joseph us 2o/3n/<:;^i'c), the eighth named of the subordinate thirty in David's guard, and eighth captain for the eighth month of 24,000 men of the king's armj' (1 Chron. xi, 29; xxvii, 11). B.C. 1043. He belonged to one of the principal families of Judah, the Zarhites, or descendants of Ze- rah, and is called "the Hushathite," probably from an ancestor by the name of Hushah (q. v.). Josephus {Ant. vii, 12, 2) calls him "the Hittite," bift this is no doubt an error. Sibbecai's great exploit, which gave him a place among the mighty men of David's army, was his single combat with Saph, or Sippai, the Philis-