into unexpected power. The villages were half
abandoned, the fields untilled, the people full of unrest; but the
monasteries were as full of monks as ever; the gongs rang, as they ever
did, their message through the quiet evening air; the little boys were
taught there just the same; the trees were watered and the gardens swept
as if there were no change at all--as if the king were still on his
golden throne, and the English had never come; as if war had never burst
upon them. And to us, after the very different scenes we saw now and
then, saw and acted in, these monks and their monasteries were difficult
to understand. The religion of the Buddha thus professed was strange.

'What is the use,' said my friend, 'of this religion that we see so many
signs of? Suppose these men had been Jews or Hindus or Mussulmans, it
would have been a very different business, this war. These yellow-robed
monks, instead of sitting in their monasteries, would have pervaded the
country, preaching against us and organizing. No one organizes better
than an ecclesiastic. We should have had them leading their men into
action with sacred banners, and promising them heaven hereafter when
they died. They would have made Ghazis of them. Any one of these is a
religion worth having. But what is the use of Buddhism? What do these
monks do? I never see them in a fight, never hear that they are doing
anything to organize the people. It is, perhaps, as well for us that
they do not. But what is the use of Buddhism?'

So, or somewhat like this, spoke my friend, speaking as a soldier. Each
of us speaks from our own standpoint. He was a brilliant soldier, and a
religion was to him a sword, a thing to fight with. That was one of the
first uses of a religion. He knew nothing of Buddhism; he cared to know
nothing, beyond whether it would fight. If so, it was a good religion in
its way. If not, then not.

Religion meant to him something that would help you in your trouble,
that would be a stay and a comfort, a sword to your enemies and a prop
for yourself. Though he was himself an invader, he felt that the Burmans
did no wrong in resisting him. They fought for their homes, as he would
have fought; and their religion, if of any value, should assist them. It
should urge them to battle, and promise them peace and happiness if
dying in a good cause. His faith would do this for him. What was
Buddhism doing? What help did it give to its believers in their
extremity?