JENS IVERSON WESTENGARD 105 patience until all difficulties have been overcome. Phya Kalyan ought to be held up as an example of a man true to his post." Westengard's years of devoted service to Siam were in part due to his love for the people, a love in no way touched by the shghtest color of false sentimentality. He knew the East, to respect it. Thus he writes : " I suppose I have seen the East under some of its most attractive aspects, for I have gained the confidence of one of its peoples, those
- Sullen silent peoples
Who weigh your God and you,' though the Siamese, like the Burmese, are probably the most cheerful and open of the races of Asia. For me, Asia will always have the attractions that come from its antiquity, and the fact that it is the birthplace of most of the peoples and of all the great religions of the world." To his task he brought humility, sympathy, clear judgment, unlimited patience and indomitable perseverance. The spirit of his work through the twelve years is set forth in a letter written in September, 1904, after eight months in Siam: — "It has been a busy and trying time. The situation here is extremely difficult and delicate. I am trying to do the best I can to adjust the ancient regime to the rules of a modern civilization which is at the door, which has one foot over the threshold and will not be denied complete entrance. ... I can understand and sym- pathize with the views of both sides. I must confess to a very serious doubt that the white man's regime, with all its just laws and administration, is really better for the native than the rule under which he has lived. But whatever I may think on the matter, I must deal with an actual situation and do the best I can." Entering on great administrative tasks at the age of thirty-three, he bore every burden with equanimity, solved every problem that presented itself, won the love and affection of the people and the confidence of her rulers, and universal respect in the chancelleries of Europe. Whereas England's empire builders and colonial adminis- trators have worked as part of the great imperialistic nation with the active participation and assistance of permanent colonial imder-secretaries of state, who have devoted their lives to the understanding of the problems of a particular people, Westengard,
