A Voyage to East India, Account of voyage · Section 18
SECT. 18.
Of their burials, of their mourning for their dead, and of their ſtately Sepulchres and Monuments.
FOr the Mahometans, it is their manner to waſh the bodies of their dead before they interre them. An ancient cuſtom as it ſhould ſeem among the Jews, for it is ſaid of Dorcas, that after ſhe was dead, they waſhed her body, as a preparative to her burial, Act. 9. 37.
They lay up none of the bodies of their dead in their Miſquits, or Churches (as before) but in ſome open place in a grave, which they dig very deep and wide, a Jewiſh cuſtom, likewiſe to carry the bodies of their dead to bury them out of their Cities and Towns, Luke 7. 12.
Their mourning over their dead is moſt immoderate, for beſides that day of general lamentation at the end of their Ram-Jan, or Lent, (before mentioned) they houl and cry many whole dayes for their friends departed, immediately after they have left the world and after that time is paſſed over, many fooliſh women, ſo long as they ſurvive, very often in the year, obſerve ſet dayes to renue their mourning for their deceaſed friends, and as a people without hope, bedew the graves of their huſbands, as of other their near relations, with abundance of (ſeemingly) affectionate tears; as if they were like thoſe mourning women mentioned, Jer. 9. 17. who ſeemed to have tears at command, and therefore were hired to mourn and weep in their ſolemne lamentations.
And when they thus lament over their dead, they will often put this queſtion to their deaf and dead Carkaſſes, why they would die? They having ſuch loving wives, ſuch loving friends, and many other comforts, as if it had been in their power to have reſcued themſelves from that moſt impartial wounding hand of death.
Which carriage of theirs deſerves nothing but cenſure and pity though if it be not Theatrical, we may much wonder at it, and ſay of it as it was ſaid of the mourning in the floor of Atad, Gen. 50. 11. that it is a grievous mourning, or as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon, Zech. 12. 11. if we take thoſe lamentations onelyonly in a literal ſence.
But to ſpeak unto this as a Chriſtian; certainly the Apoſtle, who forbids immoderate mourning for friends departed, 1 ſhef. 4. 13. imployes and allows of that mourning which is moderate.
To behold a great Funeral, where there are abundance of mourning garments, and no weeping eyes, is not a good ſight; for a man to die as Jehojakim (a very bad Son of an excellent good Father) of whom it was ſadly propheſied, that he ſhould die without lamentation, non plangent eum, Eheu frater, they ſhall not lament for him, ſaying, Ah my brother! his Aſhes ſhould not be moiſtned with one tear, and to be buried as Jehojakim was with the burial of an Aſſe, Jer. 2. 18, 19. is very ſad. And doubtleſſe it had been better for a man never to have been born, than to live undeſired and to die unlamented. For a man to run a long race through the world, and to leave no token of good behinde him but to be like an Arrow ſhot by a ſtrong arm up into the aire; wherein it flies a great circuit, yet immediately after it is fal'n, it cannot be diſcern'd that it was ever there, I may ſay of ſuch a one, that he was born out of due time, or rather that it had been good for him if he had not been born at all.
But now further concerning their places of Burial, many Mahometans of the greateſt qualitie in their life time provide fair Sepulchres for themſelves and neareſts friends compaſſing with a firm wall, a good circuit of ground near ſome Tank, (before ſpoken of) about which they delight to Burie their dead, or elſe they cloſe in a place for this uſe, near ſprings of water, that may make pleaſant fountains, near which they erect little Miſquits, or Churches, & near them Tombs▪ built round, or four ſquare, or in ſix, or eight ſquares, with round vaults, or Canopies of ſtone over head, all which are excellently well wrought, and erected upon P…llars, or elſe made cloſe to be entered by doors every way, under which the bodies of their dead lie interred, the reſt of that ground thus circled in, they plant with fruit Trees, and further ſet therein all their choiſeſt flowers, as if they would make Elyſian fields (ſuch as the Poets dream'd of) wherein their Souls might take repoſe.
Thus to bury (as it ſhould ſeem) was an ancient cuſtom, for it is written of Manaſſeh King of Judah, that he was buried in the garden of his own houſe ſo of his Son Amon, that he was buried in that garden likewiſe, 2 King. 21. 18. and 26. verſes, thus I ſeph of Arimathea had his Sepulchre in his garden, and it was well placed there, that when he was in the place of his greateſt delight, his meditations might be ſeaſoned with the thoughts of his death.
There are many goodly Monuments which are richly adorned; built (as before was obſerved) to the memory of ſuch as they have eſteemed Paeres, or Saints (of whom they have a large Kalender) in which are Lamps continually burning, attended by votaries, unto whom they allow Penſions for the maintaining of thoſe lights; and many (tranſported there with wilde devotion) dayly reſort to thoſe monuments, there to contemplate the happineſſe thoſe Paeres (as they imagine) now enjoy.
And certainly of all the places that Empire affords, there are none that miniſter more delight, than ſome of their burying places do, neither do they beſtow ſo much coſt, nor ſhew ſo much skill in Architecture in any other ſtructures, as in theſe.
Now amongſt many very fair Piles there dedicated to the remembrance of their dead, the moſt famous one is at Secandra, a Village three miles from Agra; it was begun by Achabar-ſha the late Mogols Father, who there lies buried, and finiſhed by his Son, who ſince was laid up beſide him. The materials of that moſt ſtately Sepulchre are Marble of divers colours, the ſtones ſo cloſely cemented together, that it appears to be but one continued ſtone, built high like a Pyramis with many curioſities about it, and a fair Miſquit by it, the Garden wherein it ſtands very large planted (as before) and compaſſed about with a Wall of Marble, this moſt ſumptuous Pile of all the ſtructures that vaſt Monarchy affords, is moſt admired by ſtrangers. Tom. Cor…at had a moſt exact view thereof, and ſo have many other Engliſh men had, all which have ſpoken very great things of it.
And if we here ſtep aſide, to look into other Countreys and ſtories, we may obſerve much to this purpoſe, (though none that I have ever heard of like that I laſt named) where many, whoſe foregoing lives, have little deſerved thoſe following remembrances, yet after death have had their bodies lodged in rich Monuments, when others of great worth… and moſt deſerved memory have been very obſcurely buried.
Varro writes of Licinius, or Licinus, but a Barber to Auguſtus Caefar, who getting wealth, was after his death honoured with a fair Monument of Marble, when grave and wiſe Cato had but a ſmall meer ſtone to cover him, and renowned Pompey had in this kinde no remembrance at all, of all whom Varro briefly writes thus:
Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet, at Cato parvo,
Pompeius nullo.—
Licinus entomb'd under rich Marble ſtone:
Cato a ſmall one had: Great Pompey none.
When Iulius Caeſar had vanquiſhed Ptolomey, and the diſtreſſed King hoped to preſerve his life by flying into a Boat, there were ſo many of his Souldiers which followed him, that they loſt their lives by that very means they hoped to preſerve them; for their too much weight ſunk the Boat, and they all with their moſt unhappy King drown'd together. Concerning whom, I have what here follows (but a little varied) thus obſerved to my hand.
Mixt with Plebeians there a Monarch lies,
The laſt o'th race of Egypts Ptolomeys.
Under no covert but his Niles cold waves:
No Pyramids, nor rich Manſolian graves,
Nor Arched vaults whoſe ſtructures do excell
As his forefathers Aſhes proudly dwell.
And dead, as living do their wealth expreſſe,
In ſumptuous Tombes, or gorgious Palaces.
This was the Fate of that laſt Egyptian Monarch, and it is ſad to conſider, that an Egyptian Monarch ſhould be buried under water and mudd, and a Roman Barber covered with Marble.
The like hath been the condition of many others, who have deſerved in their generation laſting remembrances in this kinde, but have not found them, when others, who have merited nothing at all, have had much ſaid, and (in that reſpect) much done for them after death. And therefore one of this age, very eminent for great parts, writing of a great man, by place, and deſerts, but obſcurely buried; and obſerving rich Monuments ſet off with large and undeſerved Encomiums for others, which deſerved them not, firſt blames
—The flattering ſtone
Which oft belies the dead when he is gone.
And after writes further in relation to him before mentioned; thus
Let ſuch, as fear their riſing, purchaſe vaul…s,
And ſtatues, onelyonly to excuſe their faults.
While, thou ſhalt riſe thorough thy eaſie duſt
At the laſt day, theſe would not, but they muſt.
And truly if we conſider, and impartially read many Hyperbolical expreſſions engraven upon ſome Monuments, we may make a pauſe at the two firſt words, which are commonly theſe. Here lies, and write them thus, hear lies, and there make a ſtop, becauſe little, or nothing that follows hath any truth in it. And therefore though many great and rich men, have their bodies after death covered with ſtately Piles, which hold forth many, and high commendations of them, yet theſe cannot keep their names from putrifying and rotting as much above ground, as their bodies do under it. The name of the wicked ſhall rot, Prov. 10. 17. His remembrance ſhall periſh from the earth, and he ſhall have no name in the ſtreet, Job 18. 17. or if their names ſurvive, and be remembred, they ſhall but continue their ſhame, as here lies, or there dwelt ſuch an oppreſſor, ſuch a cruel, or ſuch a covetous Muck-worm, or ſuch a filthy, or ſuch a prophane ungodly perſon, or ſuch an intemperate drunken ſot; whom many times ſuch an inſcription would fit, (if it were written over their doors) as Diogenes ſometimes cauſed to be written upon the door of a like intemperate perſon, who had written before that his houſe was to be ſold, under which that Cynick wrote thus, I thought this houſe would ſurfet ſo long, that it would ſpue out its maſter, for God ſhall take ſuch away, and pluck them out of their dwelling places, and root them out of the land of the living, or as the Prophet Jeremiah ſpeaks, their dwellings ſhall caſt them out.
But however they which deſerve true honour, ſhould have it both alive and dead. The memory of the juſt ſhall be bleſſed. Abel was the firſt that ever taſted death, and he died by violence, he died for Religion. Oh how early did Martyrdom creep into the world! yet Abol, who hath been ſo long dead, yet ſpeaketh, Heb. 11. 4. or the Teſtimony which Almighty God gave of that righteous Abel is yet ſpoken of, and ſo ſhall be, till eternity hath ſwallowed up time.
The remembrance of Joſiah is like a compoſition of the perfume that is made by the art of the Apothecary, ſweet in all mouths &c. and ſo ſhall remain; when ſtately Monuments erected to preſerve the memorie of others, ſhall be ſo defaced, that it will not appear where they once were.
In a word, all Kings and Potentates of the earth of what Nation ſoever they be, muſt firſt, or laſt lay down their ſwords and Scepters, and Trophies at the gates of death. No earthly King ſhall ever carry his Crown further, than Simon the Cyrenian did the Croſſe, to Golgotha, to the grave, which narrow compaſſe of earth, ſhall at laſt put a confinement to all their great thoughts, who have believed (as Alexander ſometime did▪ the whole world by much to little, to bound their deſires.
Unus Pellaeo juveni non ſufficit Orbis:
Aeſtuat infelix anguſto limite mundi,
Ut Gyarae clauſus ſcopulis, parvaque Seripho.
Cū tamen a figulis munitam intraverit urbem,
Sarcophago contentus erat. Mors ſola fatetur
Quantula ſint hominū corpuſcula.—
Ju. Sat. 10.
One world the youth of Pella cannot hold,
He ſweats as crouded in this narrow mold.
To cloſe Seriph's and Gyara's Rocks conſin'd,
But when into the Towns with brick-walls lin'd,
He entered once, there muſt he reſt content.
In a ſtraight Coffin, and ſlight Monument.
For death alone is that which will confeſſe
(Though great mens mindes) their bodies littleneſſe.
Ecce vix totam Hercules implevit urnam. Behold great and victorious Hercules, the ſubduer of the Monſters of the World, when he was dead, and his body reſolved into aſlies, ſcarcely fill'd one earthen Pitcher.
Death is the great Loveller which cuts down, and then layes all people flat before God. Oh if ſickneſſe and death could be brib'd how rich they would be! this death makes all men to appear as they are men upon even …erms in the ſight of God. The great men there ſhall not be offered a Chair and Cuſhion to ſit down while others ſtand and wait. I ſaw the dead both ſmall and great ſtand before God, Rev. 21. 12. The ſmall and the great are there, and the ſervant is free from his maſter, Job 3. 19. The diſtinction then in that day ſhall not be 't wixt poor and rich; 'twixt mean, and mighty, 'twixt them that are nobly born, and thoſe of low parentage: But good and bad ſhall be the onelyonly Terms to diſtinguiſh one man from another before that great Tribunal, when every one of what degree, or condition ſoever he hath been, ſhall receive from the hands of God according to that which he hath done in the fleſh, be it good, or evil. When the two Cups, the two reward…, the two recompences ſhall be impartially diſtributed, and none but thoſe which ſhall be found in Chriſt accepted, rewarded, in the mean time, as it is in natural reſt, it is much better to lodge in a very poor baſe and mean cottage, upon an hard open pallat, and there to have ſweet, and quiet ſleep, than in a moſt ſumptuous. Palace upon a bed of down, encloſed with the richeſt Curtains that coſt can make, and there to have no ſleep at all: ſo for that reſt which is eternal, it matters not how meanly and baſely the body is laid up, while the Soul reſts in peace. But if the body be embalmed with all ſweet Odors and Spices, if cheſted in, or covered with Marble, or with any thing that is richer, and the Soul all this while in torments, condemned to everlaſting burnings, what comfort can it take; no more, nay, not ſo much as a man who hath a curious Crimſon Silk-ſtocking, drawn over a broken, or a Gouty and tormenting Leg.
For the Saints departed hence non tumulos curant, when their Souls are bound up in a; bundle of life, and they enjoy the company of all the bleſſed ſpirits made perfect, they care not what becomes of their earthly parts. As before they went into their Chambers to undreſſe themſelves: ſo now they go down into their graves to put off their naſty and dirty raggs, that when they ariſe thence they may be inveſted with Roabs that are rich and glorious, well knowing that Chriſt at the laſt day will change their vile bodies, and make them like unto his glorious body. While a mans Soul is ſafe it is not at all to be heeded what becomes of his body: That may be ſlain, but cannot be hurt, as bold and good Ignatius told his perſecutor occidere potes, laedere non potes, thou canſt kill me, but thou canſt not hurt me. The good man may be ſtripped of all his temporall riches, but that long enduring ſubſtance laid up for him in the Heavens, is above all his enemies reach. They may be degraded here from all their worldly honours, but not of this honour to be the ſervants of God. They may be deprived of their lives, but not of their ſalvation. The executioner that cut off Saint Paul's head, could not take away his Crown. And therefore whither they breath forth their lives out of the mouth of the body, or the mouth of a wound, it is all one—vivit poſt funer a virtus; the virtuous man out-lives his life, and after findes, that there are no ſuch laſting monuments, as to be entomb'd in the hearts of the good who will be ever ſhewing forth the praiſes of thoſe, which have deſerv'd them. And as for earthly▪ Monuments made to continue in the remembrances of the dead.
Quandoquidem data ſunt ipſis quoque fata Sepulchris.
Theſe ſhall have their periods as well as men, and when time ſhall crumble and conſume them all into duſt and forgetfulneſſe, the righteous ſhall be had (in a laſting) and everlaſting remembrance.
And now Reader I have done with this, and ſhall proceed to ſpeak more particularly.