Page:Great & wonderful revolution in Siam (1690).pdf/8

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The Preface to the Reader.
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therein, and hath given them so different Natures and Inclinations, when he gave to Men like Bodies and Souls, if he had pleased, have also inspired into them the same Sentiments for that Religion they ought to follow, and for that Worship which was most acceptable to him, and make all Nations live and die in the same Laws?

That Order amongst Men, and that Unity in Religion depending absolutely on Divine Providence, who could as easily introduce it into the World, as the diversity of Sects that in all times have been establisht in it; ought not one to think, that the true God takes as great pleasure to be honoured by different Worships and Ceremonies, as to be glorify'd by a prodigious number of Creatures, that praise him every one in their own way? Would that Beauty and Variety which we admire in the Order of Nature, be less admirable in the supernatural Order, or less beseeming the Wisdom of God?

However it be, continued he, since we know that God is the absolute Master of the World, and that we are persuaded that nothing comes to pass contrary to his Will, I wholly resign my Person and Dominions into the Arms of the Divine Mercy and Providence, and with all my Heart beseech his Eternal Wisdom to dispose thereof according to his good Will and Pleasure.

But after all this Character and Account of his Person and Humour, I cannot learn what his Name was, unless by the Inscription of the Letters he sent to the Pope, and to the French King in the Year 1688, mentioned in the second Voyage of Father Tachard: In his Letter to the French King he writes himself thus:

Som Det Pratchao Crung Thep
Pramha Ana Con Pujai.

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