i In. every chief-townr there -is. a,Thigh priest, who with thb! a§si&tanp#iof
seyeral ïnferi.qÈ priests,•• holds ah eccjhsiastóeal I court, and-1 superintends thé?
priests.i-whoi ate - appointed; in the? - subordinate' districts add yJfeges. 1 His
ejnoluments- consist of a share,' which ' varies in different' districts,* of -the
z&lcat levied by the village .priests, of fees of cöu'rt, presents, &c. These
.Gjrief priests are usually .either Arabs, >on descendants of Arabs, by; women) of;
the islands. Their-" number in some of.'the large towns; is considerable at;
Pakalóngan and t^eh/r.they Hivêiamönnte.d! tè Soinë'hundreds.. The village;
priests, are. mostly Javans. : On entering-thd profession^ -they adopts dress-
different from that of the Javans in general,; wearing a turban and Jong gown-'
after the manner of the Arabs, and encouraging, as much as possible,' the;
growth ofia.Thvit hairs on the* chin^ as ra beards *Ifcci& -probable,';rthat“it-hel
tötal hnmberiof priest sis Got Jess than .fifty thousand,! whicji-fórnis a ninetieth;
part of the whole population of. the' island. :
•, la common with other Mahometans,"fthe Ja-vans'observe the ceremonycqfe
circumcision (son«#), which is performed at abou^eightiyearstof. age; jaodt
in a manner somewhat differing-from > that usual in .QtheiicQuntri.es«:.’ The-
ceremony is usually attended with a feast and rejoicing. ijGtirisi’S t the- same;
age, suffer a slight operation, intended to heranalogóüs^ afidr/e^ledihy'the:
same name. m
? Tn their/processions and .rejoicings' on religious festivals and, other; éfeea1!
sions,; the Javans. are free: from that noisy clamour;.arid uproaiv.which.is-
usual with the Mahometans o f continentaljndia. " Thei,i .ceremony; of ?.Msen.
hasen, which. oaf the continept excites'such a general.pqise-tliroughouti'the
country, heréi passes by almost without notice,wand the -procfessions^of the,
Sepoys on this occasion, during the period of the .British government .on,
Java, excited the utmost astonishment among them,; onnachhunfe crfitheiri
novelty, .'noise*,.' and gaudy effect; but nobody,seemed inclined^'to join in,
oxito imitate them ; indeed, the Javans have.too chaste an ear tq,biar with)
pleasure the dissonant sounds and unharrhótfious; uproar ofi.the Indians.* ; :
The. Mahometan religion, as it .at present „exi$|s' on.Jav%- se^njsionly fh'
liave .penetrated the surface, ;and to.have* taken but litljfe. root jin the heart
of tbie Javaps.<.,(^ome, there are who are enthusiastic, and all consider i,t a
; point
' * The Javans observe öf. the Mahometans of continental' India, that they would' rather
drink wine than eat pork; while the Javans, on the contrary, would rather eat pork than drink
wine.
poiUt bf^honpur- to' support aM:-resp'eSt its doctsihei: but as a, nation, the
Javans by' ho1; mishits/ feelu'hatfedt towards -15Eui-Opean§- as infidels; and this-
perhaps may he given as- the bestpuboffthatithey are very imperfect Maho-
stetans,' ASstarfO-ther 'exanapld 'of-' the very slight hold which Mahometanism •
has" ofi them; may be adduced'this! conduct;, of the reigning prince' (the,
Susunan) ini the decent conspiracy aoronj^'thieaS^ysrflewjiagion Java.; - The)
intimacy- between!'this^prirlee fand) ifchet Sepoys,.first ‘commenced from his
attending fcheeeferelh<kiii£§ii)f theinireligious worship,'"which! was Hindu, and.
assisting them? withcset'eral idols'of that'.worship which-ihad'been preserved-
in tils 'family. cqnspfrators favailmg/'thq'mselves^of this .predilection of,
the -prtpo^forJthe feel igion of'his'ancestors, 'flattened hi in- by addressing him
as atfosc'endanfaf theigreat 'Rama, andra- deliberate; plancwas formed, .the-
obfe'cjtAof, which was ’to%>laeef- the- European* pro vilnlce'fP once .more under- 'a
HMtr,power. Had’1'this :plan • been attended withisuccessi- - i t would proba-
lil^hatseibdeTMillowedfhy'thP almost immediate- and general- reconversion,
of rthei Javans .themselves to theaHindufaith.*
»-•Whatever uf-thisir sinore' ancient faith nnay remain in tthennstitutions,; Antiquities.
Habits,'^and:;affemionS'.!o5fiTtlrSu'JavauSl»ther> is!and? abounds in.tessjperishable,
mnmorialS'bfiit^ The antiquitites" of i'Jkva^brisisb'of ruins lofuedifices,' and
in "particular toft temples; Vadrecf to the fofmer/worship.; imagesCof {deities,
found within them; and scattered throughout theqcountry, '.either sculptured-
in 'gtoffe dr-' Gak'infmetal'; I inscriptions on stonernnd'' copper- nuancient ch'a-
ra'cters, and ancient- ccSns. - d.
"btThe’antiquities of* Java have not, till lately, exbited.much notice jonpr:
have they.iyet-been .sufficiently explored-. JtjThet narrow policy ;of the Dutch!
deniedtto: other nations facilifiesirof 'research and..their; own;, devotion;
1» the-pUrsuits of commerce was too exclusive-to allow of. their feeing, tnuchi
.-interested
* In the account which has been giy:en of the' literature, ofithe-Javans, the most esteemed
Compositions connected with th'eirijancient.faith have been referred t o b u t ^as^ most pf^these,
such'as the Rama, Br&td Y&dha, Niti^ SdstraK and others are in many respects similar to
corresponding works on ihe continent of India, it may notfbe uninteresting, while treating o f
the religion of the couht'ry, to give So*rtie account of ihe'Mdnei Maya, (a compositionpxr'prose,
whieh in1 its origin anil story apptears to1 be* perfectly local,! and" which contains many of the
peculiar notions: still entertained by. the (people ,^fvpig.beginning ^tthefworldf ;&c- It .is a
work-in high.estimation among th^ mmjepj dsyans, and^Qotimnvlly^ef^pd-tO;. p°PV *n
Javan language from which the annexed translation was extracted,,was procured as an. especial
favour from the present.’ Susunan. "It has ^obviously beerf compiled since the establishment o f
Mahometanism,.bid neitfier'the' time at which it- was written,-nor its author, is known.