"The Chinese that live in Bangkok have a great many temples of their own, but none of them are as fine as the Siamese ones. The temples that the Chinese build must be paid for out of their own contributions; while those of the Siamese are erected by the government, and the priests that take care of them have an official character. There were formerly thirty or forty thousand priests in Bangkok: they were so numerous that the father of the present king determined to compel them to work for a living, and so he took away the government support and turned them out. For a few years after he did so they were not very numerous; but they have gradually increased, until their number is now reckoned at twenty thousand. They can be recognized by their yellow robes, and they have their heads shaved as smooth as door-knobs. They live about the temples, and every morning they go around begging.
"This morning we started out early, in order to see the priests on their begging missions; and it was a curious sight, you may believe.
"Each begging priest has a boat, and generally a boy to paddle it. In front of the priest there is a basket with a cover, and as the boat is rowed up to a house the priest says not a word, but raises the cover of the basket. On the platform in front of the door there is a kettle of freshly boiled rice, and somebody, generally a woman, lifts out a quart or so of the rice with a ladle and pours it into the basket. When the operation is completed, the priest moves on; he never says 'Thank you,' and the giver never speaks. If another priest comes a moment after, he gets the same quantity, and the same silence is preserved. Charity is enjoined by the Buddhist religion, and what is given is given from a sense of religious duty. Captain Salje says that nobody need starve in Bangkok, as it is the privilege of every one to go to the temples and be fed. The priests receive from the people, and are expected in turn to give to those that need. But if you went to the temples you would get nothing more than boiled rice, with an occasional fish; and, as I should tire of those things in a short time, I don't think either Frank or myself will become a mendicant in the capital of Siam.
PRIESTS PLAYING CHESS.
"The priests have a very lazy life of it. They lie around the temples and spend much of their time in sleep; some of them study the sacred books of their religion, and for those who are inclined to read there is a library attached to each of the principal temples. They are fond of games like chess, and several times we have found groups of them seated around tables and completely absorbed in their sport. Their chessmen are like buttons, and they hold them in little baskets, which are kept under the hands of the players. Many of them are great smokers, and when a party is at chess they usually have their pipes where they can be ready for use at a moment's notice.
"Talking about the priests naturally leads up to the religion of the country. Doctor Bronson says it is Buddhism of the purest character, and was brought to Siam from Ceylon hundreds of years ago. There is considerable difference in the authorities about the origin of the religion, but the statement most generally received is that it began about two thousand three hundred years ago in India. Prince Gautama, who afterward became Buddha, was famous for the goodness of his disposition and his care for the happiness of his fellow-men. The religion of his time was mixed up with a great deal of cruelty, and he determined to reform it. With his title of prince, he belonged to a very rich family near Benares, which was then considered one of the most sacred cities in India; and it remains so to this day in the eyes of the native people. He became a wanderer, and for five years he travelled over the country, living on charity, and doing all the good that he could.
"At the end of five years he came back to Benares to establish a new religion, and dispute with the teachers of the old. The people were ready to listen to him, and in a short time, under his new name of Buddha, he had many converts. Among them were his father and brothers, and other members of his family; and in a few years he was able to send out apostles to all parts of India and to Ceylon, and other countries. Conversions were made very fast, and the histories say that in less than two hundred years from the time Buddha began his work five hundred millions of people in Asia had embraced the new doctrines. Temples were erected everywhere, and priests became numerous; but the new religion led to a bitter war with the old, which lasted for centuries. Buddhism was finally driven out of the most of India, and the only places where it now exists are the countries to which it was carried by the missionaries.
"An English author and journalist, Edwin Arnold, who lived some time in India, has written a poem, entitled 'The Light of Asia,' in which he endeavors to portray the life and character of Prince Gautama of India, the founder of Buddhism. In the preface to his interesting and highly instructive production, Mr. Arnold says: