244i COMMERCE WITH Strangers, have been most signally unfortunate in their intercourse with the people of Asia. In 1689 they intrigued with the celebrated Constantine Faulcon * to subvert the independence of the em- " Before that fatal time, the English were so beloved and favoured at the court of Siam, that they had places of trust conferred upon them, both in the civil and military branches of the government. Mr Samuel White was made shawban- daar, or custom-master, at Merjee and Tanacerin, and Cap- tain Williams was admiral of the king's navy ; but the trouble- some Company, and a great revolution that happened in the state of Siam, made some repair to Fort St George, others to Bengal, and some to Atcheen." Hamilton's Neio Ac- count of the East Indies, Vol. II. p. 63, 64.
- Kampfer gives the following interesting account of Faul-
con, which I transcribe, as it is from the hand of a master : " Faulcon was a Grecian by birth, a man of great understand- ing, of an agreeable aspect, and an eloquent tongue, notwith- standing he was brought up to no learning, and had passed his younger years mostly at sea among different nations, particu- larly the English, whose languages he had. Being in the ser- vice of the latter in the quality of cockswain, he came to Siam and obtained an employment at court. His natural parts, ready apprehension, and good success in affairs entrusted with him, which were first of small consequence, but, by degrees, of more moment, raised him, in the space of nine years, to the highest credit and authority. For he was put at the head of the finances of the kingdom, and had also the direction of the king's household ; almost all public affairs of the most important concern were determined by his advice, and who- ever had any thing to solicit was obliged to apply to him." Hist, of Japan, Vol. I. p. 19.
