Page:Siam and Laos, as seen by our American missionaries (1884).pdf/439

 missionaries, who see much more of these things than do passing travelers, does not bear out this statement. As evidence of the zeal and activity with which an old temple is sometimes restored and a new one planned when merit is to be made thereby, the following is given:

"The princes and people of Cheung Mai are all astir in the work of merit-making. Just now it takes the form of rebuilding the finest temple that was erected in Cheung Mai, and in gathering and shaping materials for the replacing, three or four months hence, of the temple on the top of the mountain with a new structure. All the sawyers of the city are on duty. Priests and people are busy with saw and chisel and adze and plane. The large public courtyard is full of timber and workmen. A new king has come upon the throne, and the way to a long and successful reign must be sought in the building of these new memorials to Buddha. How strange and how sad it all seems! But the people are not sad. For while their hands are busy their tongues are busy too, and the frequent merry laugh tells of the joyous heart. They boast themselves in their work. The chief priests of the temples are there—one time passing among the workmen giving directions, then seated in groups upon their mats, spread sometimes in the large sala, and sometimes on the green sward, under the shelter of the bamboo matting and the