Of all the kings in Asia, the king of Burmah is the greatest, next to the
emperor of China. He has not indeed nearly as large a kingdom, or as many
subjects as that emperor; but like him, he is worshipped by his people.
He is called "Lord of life and death," and the "Owner of the sword," for
instead of holding a _sceptre_ in his hand, he holds a golden sheathed
_sword_. A sword indeed suits him well, for he is very cruel to his
subjects. Nowhere are such severe punishments inflicted. For drinking
brandy the punishment is, pouring molten lead down the throat; and for
running away from the army, the punishment is, cutting off both legs, and
leaving the poor creature to bleed to death. A man for choosing to be a
Christian was beaten all over the body with a wooden mallet, till he was
one mass of bruises; but before he was dead, he was let go.
Every one is much afraid of offending this cruel king. The people tremble
at the sound of his name; and when they see him, they fall down with
their heads in the dust. The king makes any one a lord whom he pleases,
yet he treats even his lords very rudely. When displeased with them, he
will hunt them out of the room with his drawn sword. Once he made forty
of his lords lie upon their faces for several hours, beneath the broiling
sun, with a great beam over them to keep them still. It was well for them
that the king did not send for the men with spotted faces. Who are those
men? The executioners. Their faces are always covered with round marks
tattooed in the skin. The sight of these spotted faces fills all the
people with terror. Every one runs away at the sight of a spotted face,
and no one will allow a man with a spotted face to sit down in his house.
In what terror the poor Burmese must live, not knowing when the order for
death will arrive. Yet the king is so much revered, that when he dies,
instead of saying, "He is dead," the people say, "He is gone to amuse
himself in the heavenly regions"
The king has a great many governors under him, and they are as cruel as
himself. A missionary once saw a poor creature hanging on a cross. He
inquired what the man had done, and finding that he was not a murderer,
he went to the governor to entreat him to pardon the man. For a long
while the governor refused to hear him: but at last he gave him a note,
desiring the crucified man to be taken down from the cross. Would you
believe it?--the Burmese officers were so cruel that they would not toke
out the nails, till the missionary had promised them a _piece of cloth_
as a reward! When the man was released, he was nearly dead, having been
seven hours bleeding on the cross; but he was tenderly nursed by the
missionary, and at last he recovered. Yet all the agonies of a cross had
not changed the man's heart, and he returned to his old way of life as a
thief. Had he believed in that Saviour who was nailed to a cross for his
sins, he would, like the dying thief, have repented. Though the Burmese
are so unfeeling to each other, they think it wrong to kill animals, and
never eat any meat, except the flesh of animals who have died of
themselves. Even the fishermen think they shall be punished hereafter for
catching fish; but they say, "We must do it, or we shall be starved." You
may be sure that such a people must have some false and foolish religion;
and so they have, as you will see.
[Illustration: IDOL CAR AND PAGODA.]
RELIGION.--It is the religion of Buddha. This Buddha was a man who was
born at Benares, in India, more than two thousand years ago; and people
say, that for his great goodness was made a boodh, or a god. Yet the
Burmese do not think he is alive now; they say he is resting as a reward
for his goodness. Why then do they pray to him, if he cannot hear them?
They pray because they think it is very good to pray, and that they shall
be rewarded for it some day. What reward do they expect? It is this--to
_rest_ as Buddha does--to sleep forever and ever. This is the reward they
look for. Every one in Burmah thinks he has been born a great many times
into the world,--now as an insect,--now as a bird,--now as a beast, and
he thinks that because he was very good,--as a reward he was made a
_man_. Then he thinks that if he is very good as a _poor_ man, he shall
be born next time to be a _rich_ man; and at last, that he will be
allowed to rest like Buddha himself. What is it to be good? The Burmese
say that the greatest goodness is making an idol, and next to that,
making a pagoda. You know what an idol is, but do you know what a pagoda
is? It is a house, with an idol _hidden_ inside, and it has no door, nor
window, therefore no one can get into a pagoda. Some pagodas are very
large, and others very small. As it is thought so very good to make idols
and pagodas, the whole land is filled with them; the roads in some places
are lined with them; the mountains are crowned with them.
Next to making idols, and building pagodas, it is considered good to make
offerings. You may see the father climbing a steep hill to reach a
pagoda, his little one by his side, and plucking green twigs as he goes.
He reaches the pagoda, and strikes the great bell, then enters the
idol-house near the pagoda, and teaches his young child how to fold its
little hands, and to raise them to its forehead, while it repeats a
senseless prayer; then leaving the green twigs at the idol's feet, the
father descends with his child in his arms. How many little ones, such
as Jesus once took in his arms, are taught every day to serve Satan.
The people who are thought the best in Burmah, are the priests. Any one
that pleases may be a priest. The priests pretend to be poor, and go out
begging every morning with their empty dishes in their hands; but they
get them well filled, and then return to the handsome house, all shining
with gold, in which they live together in plenty and in pride. They are
expected to dress in rags, to show that they are poor; but not liking
rags, they cut up cloth in little pieces, and sew the pieces together to
make their yellow robes; and this they call wearing rags. They pretend to
be so modest, that they do not like to show their faces, and so hide them
with a fan, even when they preach; for they do preach in their way, that
is, they tell foolish stories about Buddha. The name they give him is
Guadama, while the Chinese call him Fo. They have five hundred and fifty
stories written in their books about him; for they say he was once a
bird, a fly, an elephant, and all manner of creatures, and was so good
whatever he was, that at last he was born the son of a king.
CHARACTER.--The Burmese are a blunt and rough people. They are not like
the Chinese and the Hindoos, ready to pay compliments to strangers. When
a Burmese has finished a visit, he says, "I am going," and his friend
replies, "Go." This is very blunt behavior. But all blunt people are not
sincere. The Burmese are very deceitful, and tell lies on every occasion;
indeed, they are not ashamed of their falsehoods. They are also very
proud, because they fancy they were so good before they were born into
this world. All the kind actions they do are in the hope of getting more
merit, and this bad motive spoils all they do. They are kind to
travellers. In every village there is a pretty house, called a Zayat,
where travellers may rest. As soon as a guest arrives, the villagers
hasten to wait upon him;--one brings a clean mat, another a jug of water,
and a third a basket of fruit. But why is all this attention shown? In
the hope of getting merit. The Burmese resemble the Chinese in their
respect to their parents. They are better than the Chinese in their
treatment of their children, for they are kind to the _girls_ is well as
to the boys; neither do they destroy any of their infants. They are
temperate also, not drinking wine,--having only two meals in the day, and
then not eating too much. In these points they are to be approved. They
are, however, very violent in their tempers; it is true they are not very
easily provoked, but when they are angry, they use very abusive language.
Thus you see they are by no means an amiable people.
APPEARANCE.--In their persons they are far less pleasing than the
Hindoos; for instead of _slender_ faces and figures, they have broad
faces and thick figures. But they have not such dark complexions as the
Hindoos.
They disfigure themselves in various ways. To make their skins yellow,
they sprinkle over them a yellow powder. They also make their teeth
black, because they say they do not wish to have white teeth like dogs
and monkeys. They bore their ears, and put bars of gold, or silver, or
marble through the holes.
The women wear a petticoat and a jacket. The men wear a turban, a loose
robe, and a jacket; they tie up their hair in a knot behind, and tattoo
their legs, by pricking their skin, and then putting in black oil. They
have the disagreeable custom of smoking, and of chewing a stuff called
"coon," which they carry in a box.
Every one (except the priests) carries an umbrella to guard him from the
sun; the king alone has a white one; his nobles have gilded umbrellas;
the next class have red umbrellas; and the lowest have green.
FOOD.--Burmah is a pleasanter country than Hindostan, for it is not so
hot, and yet it is as fruitful. The people live chiefly upon rice; but
when they cannot get enough, they find abundance of leaves and roots to
satisfy their hunger.
ANIMALS.--There are many tigers, but no lions. The Burmese are fond of
adorning their houses with statues of lions, but never having seen any,
they make very strange and laughable figures. The pride of Burmah is her
elephants; but they all belong to the king, and none may ride upon one
but himself, and his chief favorite. Carriages are drawn by bullocks, or
buffaloes; and there are horses for riding, so the Burmese can do very
well without the elephants. The king thinks a great deal too much of
these noble animals. There was a white elephant that he delighted in so
much, that he adorned it with gold, and jewels, and counted it next to
himself in rank, even above the queen.
HOUSES.--The Burmese build their houses on posts, so that there is an
empty place under the floors. Dogs and crows may often be seen walking
under the houses, eating whatever has fallen through the cracks of the
floor.
The king allows none but the nobles to build houses of brick and stone;
the rest build them of bamboos. This law is unpleasant; but there is
another law which is a great comfort to the poor. It is _this_;--any one
may have land who wishes for it. A man has only to cultivate a piece of
spare land, and it is counted his, _as long_ as he continues to cultivate
it; therefore all industrious people have gardens of their own.