LITERATURE OF THE BURMAS. 24I 



" garments fall from above. The fcantv remains of 

 " men, who had efcaped from dedru^lion, now creep 

 " out from caverns and hiding places, and repenting of 

 " their iins, from henceforward enjoy longer lives." 



The Burmas not only conceive, that the length of 

 mens' lives is extended by virtue, and fl:iortened by 

 vice; but alfo that moral excellence, efpecially in their 

 princes, is followed by much phyfical advantage, by a fa- 

 vourable change in the feafons and produftions of the 

 earth, and efpecially by a great abundance of the pre- 

 cious metals and Hones*. Thisdo6trine of the Divine 

 Providence beftowing phyhcal rewards upon moral 

 excellence, although perhaps in many cafes prejudicial 

 to the good of fociety, feems to have been much ad- 

 mired bv the late emperor of C/izw« Yoxg-tchixg, who 

 was by no means a fuperftrtious prince, but appears 

 even to have rejected all the revelations introduced by 

 various fects into his dominions. In confequcnce of 

 fome political intrigues of the Jefuits, as it is com- 

 monly fuppofed, he had baniflied the millionaries, 

 which no doubt gave great uneafinefs to many of their 

 converts. Two governors of provinces endeavoured 

 toperfuade him, that, wherever temples of the God of 

 armies- (probably churches) had been erected, thofe 

 provinces were exempted from locults, and other de- 

 ftru6tive vermin: other officers had mentioned to him 

 different fuperlHtious expedients for procuring rain. 

 Inhisanfwer, of which Crosier t has favoured us with 

 a tranflation, he indeed treats as a ridiculous error the 

 belief that prayers offered up to pretended beings can 

 remedv our afflictions: but he at the fame time lavs it 

 down as an infallible doctrine, that our plains may be 

 defolated by inundations, drought, or inietls, as a pu- 

 nifhment inflicted by heaven on the emperor or his of- 

 ficers, who having deviated from integrity and juftice, 

 by that means may be brought back, to a fenfe of their 

 duty. Dalirdnl reges^ pUduntur Achivi. 



VOL. VI. R " XXXV, 



* Note t in page ig3ofihis Volume, + General Defcrlp.ofCAj.'i.i, II. i3^. 



