“Considering the limited progress that the Birmans had yet made in arts that refine, and science that tends to expand the human mind, Alompra, whether viewed in the light of a politician or a soldier, is undoubtedly entitled to respect. The wisdom of his councils secured what his valour had acquired; he was not more eager for conquest, than attentive to the improvement of his territories and the prosperity of his people; he issued a severe edict against gambling, and prohibited the use of spirituous liquors throughout his dominions; he reformed the rhooms or courts of justice; he abridged the power of magistrates, and forbade them to decide at their private houses on criminal causes, or on property where the amount exceeded a specified sum; every process of importance was decided in public, and every decree registered. His reign was short, but vigorous; and had his life been prolonged, it is probable that his country would at this day have been farther advanced in national refinement and the liberal arts.
“Alompra did not live to complete his fiftieth year: his person, strong and well proportioned, exceeded the middle size; his features were coarse, his complexion dark, and his countenance saturnine; and there was a dignity in his deportment that became his high station. In his temper, he is said to have been prone to anger; in revenge, implacable; and in punishing faults, remorseless and severe. The latter part of his character may, perhaps, have arisen as much from the necessities of his situation as from a disposition by nature cruel. He who acquires a throne by an act of individual boldness, is commonly obliged to maintain it by terror: the right of assumption is guarded with more jealousy than that of prescription. If we except the last act of severity towards the English settlers, his conduct, on most occasions, seemed to be marked by moderation and forbearance; even in that one disgraceful instance, he appeared to have been instigated by the persuasions of others, rather than by the dictates of a vindictive mind; and it is manifest, from the expressions of his successor on a public occasion, that it never was his intention to consign the innocent, with the supposed guilty, to the same indiscriminate and sanguinary fate.
“Be the private character of Alompra what it may, his heroic actions give him an indisputable claim to no mean rank among the most distinguished personages in the page of history. His firmness emancipated a whole nation from servitude, and, inspired by his bravery, the oppressed, in their turn, subdued their oppressors. Like the deliverer of Sweden, with his gallant band of Dalecarlians, he fought for that which experience tells us rouses the human breast above every other stimulant to deeds of daring valour. Private injuries, personal animosities, commercial emulation, wars of regal policy, are petty provocations compared to that which animates the resentment of a people whose liberties are assailed, whose right to govern themselves is wrested from them, and who are forced to bend beneath the tyranny of a foreign yoke.”[232]
CHAPTER II.
1760-1819.
Anaundopra—Zempiuscien—Chengaza—Paongoza—Men-ta-ra-gyee.
When the political history of a country commences with one bright and shining event, it is hardly possible to make the continuation of its career otherwise than “stale, flat, and unprofitable.” How true this is, was amply proved by Prescott, in the case of Mexico and Peru, when with all the magical charm of his eloquent pen, he failed to give the History of Peru the same attractive feature that he had presented in Mexico. If it were impossible then for a master-hand like his, to invest the fluctuating events of the civil wars of Peru with the graces of romance, how difficult will it be for me to do the same by those of Burmah!
The great event of Burman history, the elevation of Alompra to the regal or imperial dignity, overshadows all the subsequent occurrences in that history, although, considered by themselves, they form not the least interesting episodes of Oriental story. I shall endeavour, in the following pages, to present them, as they are, to the reader, begging him to bear in mind the first sentence of this chapter.
Alompra, on his death-bed, left the succession unsettled, though, according to Sangermano,[233] he had stipulated for the successive administration of his seven sons. Whether this was really the case, is impossible to say; but the eldest brother seems to have ascended the throne without dispute. His name was Anaundopra; but, as Symes observes, “neither the mandates of law, nor the claims of equity, can curb the career of restless ambition;”[234] and as it had proved insufficient to restrain the father, it was insufficient to restrain the son. Thembuan, or Zempiuscien, whom we have seen in the government of Ava, raised a revolt against his brother’s administration. But he had not the solid talent of his father, and his claims were scarcely recognised by his immediate followers; consequently it is not very extraordinary that his rebellion fell to the ground. He hastened to give in his submission, and his brother appears to have been forgiving enough, for he was soon restored to favour.