The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1896-05-27
LAMBERTvILLE. N. J.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 81, 1896.
KING NoRoDoM's COURT.
A Curious Country In the East and II
Queer Old Potentate.

KING NORoDOM'S COURT.
A Curious Country In the East and It's
Queer Old Potentate.
The night after my arrival in Prom
pehn there was a reception in state at the
French residenoy. 1t was known that the
king was TO be present, and 23 of his loyal
subjects crouched in the shade opposite
tho residency to witness his reception. A
body of native militia, the Milliciens Cam
bodians kept untidy guard in the street,
and when the king drove up in a victoria,
escorted by IL Cambodians on ponies and
followed by the victorias of a selection of
his sons, there was considerable enthusi-
asm. His majesty was received with Pre-
sent armsl' and the fanfare of cornet
that was not in tune. Music was played
during the reception by the royal band OF
Manila, men who would have played, per-
haps, with more spirit had their wages
been less in arrears
King Norodom is quite curiosity. He
is little wizened up man, with gray hair
and stoop and with that peculiar express
sion of feature which Is USUALLY write
with that respeet-associated with the
higher anthropoid apes. All the royal fam
lily live in Pnom-pehn, in kind of mock
palace, rambling pile of disjointed build
ings of different shapes, scattered over u
large inclosure surrounded by wall of
brick and plaster. Where there is plaster
it is falling off In fakes where there is
wood 1t Is worm eaten and rotten, where
there Is any iron it is rusting and useless
1t is palace fit for such king. At the
main entrance to tho palace two Cambo-
dian militiamon keep guard with their
hats awry, their khaki coats in rags, their
10 klnII sl-xah Ont ho Wv hnn
in front of the palace there is an old flag
staff, while drawn above tho water line
there is royal state barge. with dragon
head and seven forked tail; but the paint
has peeled off and the craft is no longer
sesworthy.
King Norodom has reigned In his own
peculiar way in Cambodia since 1860, but
since 1857 he has had tho advantage of be-
ing directed and protected by the French.
1t was in 1867 that France entered into
treaty with Siam, by which she agreed
that the two provinces of Angkor and
Batanbang should remain in Siamese pos
session, and by the same treaty Siam for
mally recognized the French protectorate
in Cambodia. Since 1867, then, we arc
always told that Siamese influence was
withdrawn from the councils of Cambodia.
As an actual fact, however, Siameso influ-
GlC0 BJlll COuHIS IUF bHDuBl tDb
French will not allow that 1t is SO in tho
Cambodian court. Norodom passed his
early years In Bangkok and spoke Siamese
before he spoke Cambodian. 1t was Siam
which gave the crown of Cambodia to his
father, Ang-Duong, and 1t was Siam
which elected him king on the death of his
father. Tho king Is not q prince OF high
moral character. He has probably never
attempted to escape from the trammels of
his environment. He will oven on ooca-
sions mock at Buddha, but none the less,
he cannot forget that for him the highest
living object of religious veneration must
be the king of Siam. In Pnom-pehn there
are nearly 40 Siamese employed by the
king in positions of moro or less confidence
and have 1t on authority which is beyond
cavil that the most intimate personal
friends of the king and his only oonfidants
are Siamese, and that Siamose is the lam
guage which the royal lips speak from
choice.
King Norodom is very much married
man, his establishment comprising at least
800 wives and conoubines. He has SO sons
and daughters, who are recognized by tho
French as his lawful progeny. OF this
number more than half arc sons, so that
the succession, If ever the French permit
him to have a successor, Is well assured
King Norodon camo to the throne in 1860,
and the same year statue In his honor
was erected in Pnom-pohn 1t is an eques-
trian statue and Is the only public monu
ment In tho city. 1t was of course made
in France and represents the king dressed
as a French general mounted on charger
and saluting the armed hosts of Cambodia.
Rarely have / seen more impressive work
Of art, and 1t Is unfortunate that left
neglected In some waste land, it has be-
come overgrown with jungle. On the
pedestal there is an inscription which tes-
titles that the statue was erected to Moro
dom by his grateful mandarins and sub
jects. ~ The statue we are told, was the
spontaneous offering of grateful people,
and one can we'll believe 1t, though 1t
surely has not often happened that in
digenous tribes In Asia have ordered from
Paris equestrian effgies of their newly
IL. n