748 Report of a Trial for Rebellion, at Moulmein. [No. 166. 



1844. 2ndly. In having, on the 15th of the same month, 



July 19. ' 



unlawfully resisted with arms the officers of Govern- 



Py*\n and G 20 ment > thereby causing bloodshed. 



others. 3rdly. For having been concerned as accessaries in 



the wilful murder of Nga Kaloo on the 15th of May 

 1843. 



The origin and scene of the disturbances for which 

 the prisoners were tried, were thus described in the 

 letter of reference accompanying the proceedings. 



" The insurrectionary movement which gave rise to 

 the trial, was discovered in May 1843, very suddenly, 

 and just at the moment of the intended outbreak. At 

 first, every person denied knowledge of the affair ; but 

 enquiry soon showed that it was well known to the 

 Buddhist population of every rank, and that the leader, 

 Nga Pyan, had long been becoming famous for sanctity, 

 which, in these countries, is a necessary introduction to 

 political power, for there is no priesthood in our sense 

 of the word. Those whom we call priests are monks 

 bound by temporary vows, seeking knowledge or their 

 own individual subsistence. The civil magistrate is the 

 real priest, being at the head of the nation taken as a 

 religious as well as a civil community; — thence every 

 Buddhist dynasty has been founded by religious fanatics, 

 or impostors, having military talent, — and the reign- 

 ing families always claim special powers from heaven. 

 Religious ascetics and fanatics are therefore jealously 

 watched, and put down with a strong hand when their 

 followers become numerous, especially at the periods 

 marked in their prophecies, or, in popular belief, as those 

 in which great changes may be looked for. Such a period 

 is the present, as will be seen from the proceedings. 



" The time chosen was judicious — he was to meet 

 his followers from all parts of the country at Gyne, two 

 days' journey from this, thence he was to come down 

 to the White Pagoda, close to Maulmein, and declare 

 against the English. This was to happen at the begin- 



