“ The Adipati arrived at Onarang, where he
halted five days. Here he summoned into his
presence a priest of Mataram, who had made the
pilgrimage, and thus addressed him, ‘ My elder
brother, I have had a dream, in which the whole
of the Chinese appeared to me in the shape of
women. Tell me, I pray thee, the interpretation
of it.5 The pilgrim replied, ‘ My Lord, the dream
is good, for women imply prosperity, and your expedition
will have a fortunate termination.’ Yet,
notwithstanding this explanation, the Adipati was
not satisfied. In the meantime, another priest
came in and said, £ Father, I too had a dream last
night, in which a flame of fire seemed to pursue
thee and me. We attempted to escape, but the fire
pursued us still: forthwith my sword fell from my
side and the kris with which you once gifted me.
Shortly after every surrounding object appeared to
be involved in the same flame.’ The heart of the
chief was as if it would crumble into atoms when
he heard this narrative. His voice became feeble,
and he said, £ This is good, but take notice of what
you have seen to no one.’ ”
Of the character for fairness and impartiality
which Javanese history is likely to maintain, we
have ample opportunity of forming a judgment,
when we are told that it is always composed under
the eye of the prince or chief, who is the principal
hero of the piece, that there is no ostensible or responsible
author, no individual who claims the merit
of the intellectual execution; no more than there
is onç who claims merit for the workmanship of the
rude plough or harrow with which the rice field is
tilled. The execution of an historical composition
is, in fact, considered as a mechanical process,
and intrusted to any one who has dexterity and
practice enough to string together verses,—to make
rhymes by the hundred,—whose memory can furnish
him with the usual routine of similes and metaphors
; and, finally, who is master of a tolerably
easy and distinct hand-writing. I have in my
possession the original of the history of the Sultan
Mangkubumi, composed in the manner I have
mentioned; and a prince of Djojocarta'had the
complaisance to furnish myself with a circumstantial
narrative of political and military transactions,
in which I had a share.
There are some facts, to be sure, which are corroborated
by these peculiar circumstances under
which the narrative of them is composed, and
which alford the best and most unquestionable illustrations
of the character of the people who are
the subjects of them. When facts are unconsciously
adduced, as often happens, unfavourable to the
national character, or to those in power, we may
consider them conclusive.
Tracts on law and ethics are most frequently