St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1896-07-25
KING NoRoDoM's COURT.
a CurfoEs Country IN the East and Itl
Queer Old Potentate.


a Curfons Country In the East and It
Queer Old Potentatc.
The night after my arrival in Pnon,
PENN there was q reception in state a.
the French resideney. It was known
that the king was to be present, anf
% of his loyal subjects erouched in th
shade opposite the residency to witnes
his reception. A body of native militia
the Milliciens Cambogiana, kept untid,
guard in the street, and when the king
drove up in a victoria, escorted by 1.
Cambodians on ponies and followed b,
the victorias of a selection of his sons
there was considerable enthusiasm
His majesty was received with sspresen1
arms!'' and the fanfare Of cornet tha,
was not in tune. Music was played dur
ing the reception by the royal band o.
Manila, men who would have played
perhaps, with more spirit had theil
wages been less in arrears.
King Norodon is quite curiosity;
he is littel, wizened-up man, with gra,
hair and a stoop, and with the peculia.
expression of feature which is usual
ly- write with respect--associatc6
with the higher anthropoid apes. Al
the royal family live in Pnoln-penh, il
a kind of mock palace, a rambling pile
of disjointed buildings of differen
shapes, scattered over a large inclos
ure, surrounded by wall of brick ant
plaster. Where there is plaster it il
falling off in flakes, where there is wool
it is worm-eaten and rotten, where
there is any iron it is rusting and Use
less. It is palace fit for such king
At the main entrance to the palace twt
Calnbodian militiamen keep guard will
their hats awry, their khaki coats il
rags, their rifles held like brooms. Or
the river bank in front of the palace
there is an old flagstaff, while drawn
above the water line there is roya
state barge, with dragon head ant
seven-forlsed tail, but the paint has
peeled off, and the craft is no longer
seaworthy.
King Norodom has reigned in his owl
peculiar way in Cambedia since 1860
but since 1867 he has had the advantage
of being directed and protected by the
French. 1t was in 1867 that France en-
tered into treaty with Siam, by whicl
she agreed that the two provinces OF
Angkor and Batambang should remaiI
in siamese possession, and by the SAINT
treaty Siam formally recognized the
French protectorate in Canlbodia
Since 1867, then, we are always tolc
that Siamese influence was withdraw
from the councils of Cambodia. Al:
an actual fact, however, Siamese in.
fuence still counts for something
though the French will not allow thai
it is SO, in. the Cambodian court. Nors.
dom passed his early years in Bangkok
and spoke Siamese before he spoke
Cambodian. Tt was Siam which gave
the crown of Cambodia to his father
Ang-Duong, and it was Siam which
elected him king on the death of his
father. The king is not a prince of high
moral character; he has probably never
attempted 20 escape from the tram.
1nels of his environment; heWill even OF
occasions mock at Buddha; but mont
the less he cannot forget that for him
the highest living object of religious
veneration must be the king of Siam
In Pnom-penh there are nearly 10 Siam
csc employed by the king in positions
Of more or less confidence, and I have
it on authority which is beyond casil
that the most intimate personal friends
of the king and his only confdants are
Siamese, and that Siamese is the Ian:
guage which the royal lips speak from
choice.
King Norodom is a very much mar
ried man, his establishment comprising
at least 800 wives and concubines. He
has Sc sons and daughters, who are
recognized by the French as his law
full progeny. Of this number more
than half are sons, so that the success
sion, if ever the French permit him tc
have successor, is well assured
King Norodom came to the throne in
1860, and the same year statue in his
honor was erected in Pnom-penh. II
is an equestrian statue and is the only
public monument in the city. It was
of course, made in France, and repre-.
sents the king dressed as a French gen
eral, mounted on q charger, and1salut
ing the armed hosts of Cambodia. Rare.
ly have [ seen a more impressive work
of art; and it is unfortunate that, left
neglected in some waste land, it has
become oyergrown with jungle. On
the pedestal there is an inscription
which testiies that the statue was
erected to Norodom by his grateful
mandarins and subjects The statue,
we are told, was spontaneous offering
of a grateful people, and one can well
believe il, though it surely has not often
happened that indigenous tribes in
Asia have ordered from Paris eques-
trian effigies of their newly crowned
kings.-London Times.
Surgery In the Middle Ages.
In the middle of the 18th CEN
tury priests were the only doctors.
By an edict of the council of Tours,
surgery was separated from medicine,
and the practice of the former for.
hidden to the clergy. The latter then
employed their BARRIERS to perform
surgical operations. This arose from
the fact of the monks having their
heads shaved frequently. and observing
the dexterity acquired by the BARRIERS
In the use Of edged tools. The knights
of the razor, from cupping and bleed
ing, passed on to tooth-dTawing and
finally to other operations requiring