Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Enquiry Into The Funereal Ceremonies Of The Various Nations Of The World*
honouring the remains of their friends , their warriors , and their magistrates . The belief that those souls Avhose bodies were refused the rites of sepulture , hovered over the banks of the Styx , the funeral ceremonies of Patroclus , as recorded by Homer , tho fate of those generals who had neglected to render the last duties to their soldiers after a battle , fable , history , poetry , all unite in confirming this impression . The tomb of the ancestor Ai-as the cradle of posteritythe latter taking up arms in
, defence of the former , and even in some cases the ashes of the ancestor exercised a protecting poiver over subsequent generations . A memorable example of this has come doivn to us . The inhabitants of Athens and Megara disputed concerning the possession of Salamis ; the right was on both sides uncertain , and recourse was about to be had to the sword ; when , the Athenians appealing to the names of their ancestors , engraven on the marble tombs of the Peninsulathe whole of the
, Grecian states arose in their behalf , and pronounced a verdict in thenfavour . What an irrefragable argument ! What a touching appeal ! What , a noble triumph ! Political animosity was disarmed by piety ; the sanguinary laurel boived before the religious cypress , and the Athenians then received the reward of never having exclaimed to the bones of their forefathers : " Arise ! and follow us to the land of the stranger !"
Having thus made some observations concerning the tenants of tunmlary cities , and private monuments , remarkable for their magnificence , or historic association , and having brought under your notice the Pyramids of the Pharoahs , the tomb of philosophers iu Athens , of Ctecilia Metella , of Curtius , the mausoleum of Adrian . ( noAv the castle of St . Angelo , at
Rome ); and reminded you of the numerous creations of genius perpetuated b y the chisel of the artist of the middle ages , and devoted to the same object , wearrive at our own times . We Avould adduce the splendours of the Escurial , in which tivo dynasties peaceably repose side by side , which , Avhile living were bitter enemies . We can appeal to the honours oi Westminster ( Abbey ) , ivhere all the national glories of Great Britain are radiant even in the tomb ; Ave may appeal to your sympathies in behalf of the misfortunes of the Abbey of St . Denisivhere eiht centuries of
, g kings , who were its peaceful occupants , might well envy the repose and obscurity granted to the remains of even the most unfortunate of their subjects . In short ive mi ght transport you to that cemetery at Paris , * which contains in a true city of tombs , a Avhole republic nation of great men interred in close ranks . But the eulogium of contemporaries dies on our lips . Policy asserts its claims even over our last asylum , antl strict Masonic regulations enjoin a reserve truly painful at the moment
that Ave desire to pour forth a tribute of admiration and regret due to spotless memories , and to suspend a crown of oak and immortelles on more than one mausoleum . But the cenotaph , the column , the funeral urn , are the appendages of power and fortune . The aristocracy of the living is carried even among the dead . Long processions attend the remains of the great ones of the earth ; cedar , marble , and lead compose their resting place ; but poverty knows
none of these ambitions , and these honours after existence . To the loiyly a shroud , a coffin , and a little earth suffice . While on this theme Ave may be permited to refer to a simple aud touching subiect , the remembrance of which will ever live in our
* I ' ere la Chaise . VOL . II . A A
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Enquiry Into The Funereal Ceremonies Of The Various Nations Of The World*
honouring the remains of their friends , their warriors , and their magistrates . The belief that those souls Avhose bodies were refused the rites of sepulture , hovered over the banks of the Styx , the funeral ceremonies of Patroclus , as recorded by Homer , tho fate of those generals who had neglected to render the last duties to their soldiers after a battle , fable , history , poetry , all unite in confirming this impression . The tomb of the ancestor Ai-as the cradle of posteritythe latter taking up arms in
, defence of the former , and even in some cases the ashes of the ancestor exercised a protecting poiver over subsequent generations . A memorable example of this has come doivn to us . The inhabitants of Athens and Megara disputed concerning the possession of Salamis ; the right was on both sides uncertain , and recourse was about to be had to the sword ; when , the Athenians appealing to the names of their ancestors , engraven on the marble tombs of the Peninsulathe whole of the
, Grecian states arose in their behalf , and pronounced a verdict in thenfavour . What an irrefragable argument ! What a touching appeal ! What , a noble triumph ! Political animosity was disarmed by piety ; the sanguinary laurel boived before the religious cypress , and the Athenians then received the reward of never having exclaimed to the bones of their forefathers : " Arise ! and follow us to the land of the stranger !"
Having thus made some observations concerning the tenants of tunmlary cities , and private monuments , remarkable for their magnificence , or historic association , and having brought under your notice the Pyramids of the Pharoahs , the tomb of philosophers iu Athens , of Ctecilia Metella , of Curtius , the mausoleum of Adrian . ( noAv the castle of St . Angelo , at
Rome ); and reminded you of the numerous creations of genius perpetuated b y the chisel of the artist of the middle ages , and devoted to the same object , wearrive at our own times . We Avould adduce the splendours of the Escurial , in which tivo dynasties peaceably repose side by side , which , Avhile living were bitter enemies . We can appeal to the honours oi Westminster ( Abbey ) , ivhere all the national glories of Great Britain are radiant even in the tomb ; Ave may appeal to your sympathies in behalf of the misfortunes of the Abbey of St . Denisivhere eiht centuries of
, g kings , who were its peaceful occupants , might well envy the repose and obscurity granted to the remains of even the most unfortunate of their subjects . In short ive mi ght transport you to that cemetery at Paris , * which contains in a true city of tombs , a Avhole republic nation of great men interred in close ranks . But the eulogium of contemporaries dies on our lips . Policy asserts its claims even over our last asylum , antl strict Masonic regulations enjoin a reserve truly painful at the moment
that Ave desire to pour forth a tribute of admiration and regret due to spotless memories , and to suspend a crown of oak and immortelles on more than one mausoleum . But the cenotaph , the column , the funeral urn , are the appendages of power and fortune . The aristocracy of the living is carried even among the dead . Long processions attend the remains of the great ones of the earth ; cedar , marble , and lead compose their resting place ; but poverty knows
none of these ambitions , and these honours after existence . To the loiyly a shroud , a coffin , and a little earth suffice . While on this theme Ave may be permited to refer to a simple aud touching subiect , the remembrance of which will ever live in our
* I ' ere la Chaise . VOL . II . A A