John Bowring’s Kingdom and people of Siam (1857)

Sir John Bowring, (1792-1872) was a diplomat and former president of the Devon and Exeter Institution. In 1855 Queen Victoria charged Bowring to lead an embassy to the kingdom of Siam (now Thailand). This two-volume work details Bowring’s time in that country and is dedicated to King Mongkut, with whom Bowring established a treaty.  The agreement, however, was unbalanced and controversial: it permitted British merchants to trade in Thai ports and granted them exemption from prosecution under Thai laws; it also legalised the importation to Siam of opium, a highly addictive drug.  Bowring defended his position:

The strong argument against the abolition of the opium farm is, that it is better that the trade should be under than beyond the control of the Government.

I’ve been rescued!