Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-07-30
Mutes ~ futeiam gands.
SKETCHES OF TRAVEL IN SCOTLAND.
BE REV. r. LATHAM.
1Written for the YOrkyille EnQuirer.


-s--
Written for the Yorkvile Enquirer.]
East of Glasgow Cathedral, a few rods, is
the Molendinar burn, "a braWling rivulet,
whose waters, collected into a small basin,
dash over an artificial cascade into ravine
below" Just beyond the Molendinar burn
is a rocky hill of considerable extent, whose
summit rises two hundred and twenty-five
feet above the general level of the city.
This was formerly known as Fir Park, but
is now, by way of distinction. called THE
METROPOLIS, or city of the dead. From the
top of this hill grand view of the city and
surrounding country is obtained. In passing
from the Cathedral to the Metropolis, the
Molendinar burn is crossed on q bridge,
which is thought to be appropriately named
the "Bridge of Sighs." The rocky hill now
occupied by the Metropolis was at one time,
it is said, covered with fir trees, and tradi-
ton relates was famous retreat of the
Druids. ....
There are several burial grounds in the
CITY of Glasgow. That which surrounds the
Cathedral is the oldest, and the Metropolis,
which overlooks it, is the most beautiful.
When the first corpse was Inferred IN the
burial ground which surrounds the Cathe'
dral, probably no one can tell. 1t was, no
doubt, during the life time of the Culder
Monk Kentigern. For more than twelve
centuries the people of Glasgow have been
burying their dead out of their sight IN the
rock plat of ground near the spot where the
old Culder built his cell, about the middle OF
the sixth century. In this old burying
ground there is nothing specially beautiful,
but there is, however, silent grandeur
about it which fills the soul not with awe
and dread, but with humility and reverence.
What a vast multitude of human bodies
have crumbled into dust in that compare
lively small spot of ground. Thousands
and tens of thousands lie sleeping there,
waiting for the general resurrection. They
arecroWded together and heaped upon top of
each other in endless confusion. The rich
and the poor, the old and the young, saints
and sinners, bosom friends and bitter foes,
sleep there. The dust of more than three
thousand generations of men. is scattered
around the Cathedral of Glasgow.
The Metropolis, which is separated from
the Cathedral burying groundb by the Molen-
dinar burn, presents very, dlterent ap-
pearance. It's tastefully laid out and orna-
mented in the most exquisite style. There
are evidences, strong and convincing, OF
wealth and prosperity, of learning and re-
tinement to be seen in every part OF Gias-
gov, but the Metropolis is convincing
proof that the inhabitants of Glasgow are
an enlightened people. There are those who
boast that they care not what may be done
with their bodies after life has become ex-
tinct. Happily for the peace and progress
of society the number of such individuals is
few. Whether it be instinct or the result OF
education, we need not enquire, it is a fact
that those who decorate the graves of their
dead with flowers love and respect their
living friends. The want Of sepulture was
regarded by all civilized nations of antiqui-
ty as a grievous calamity. The temporal
punishment which God inflicted upon Ahab,
was that the dogs licked his blood and the
blood of his wicked wife, Jezebel and those
of his descendants who died in the city were
eaten by dogs, and those who died in the
field were eaten by the fowls. The tempo
raj curse which God inflicted upon Jehoia-
kim was that his dead body was dragged
out of the city and buried with the burial of
an ass. Not to be buried was regarded by
the Jews as a most dreadful calamity. So
it was regarded by the Romans, and so it is
regarded by every civilized individual on
earth to-day. Abraham bought burial
ground, and the last charge that Jacob gave
his son Joseph was, "bury me with my faith
ers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron,
the Hittite," and Joseph charged the chill
dren of Israel to carry up his bones out OF
Egypt. To neglect the graveyard an evil
dence of either slavery or savage barbarity.
To raise monument to departed worth is
an evidence of worth in those who erect the
monument. A monument-building people
are themselves worthy of monument.
From the banks of the Molendinar burn
the hill, on which is the Metropolis, rises on
the west end abruptly. The ascent is made
by series of spiral walks. The face of the
hill on the west end is cut down and tombs
cut out in the perpendicular wall. On the
summit of the hill, peering above every
thing else, is a monument to John Knox.
The space between the spiral walks is laid
out into family burying plots, which are
beautiful in design and keptin a style which
commands the greatest admiration. AS a
whole, the Metropolis of Glasgow is one Of
the most charming places of sepulture on
which the eye ever rested. There is moth
ing about it dingy or gloomy, but it has the
new and fresh appearance of a triumphal
arch covered with garlands of living flowers.
All the surroundings are inspiring and send
a thrill through the soul. The air is fresh
and invigorating and the visitor as he stands
amid the monuments erected to the memo
had got above the plain of disappointed
strugglings and petty strifes, into region
where gratitude is the prevailing character
istic of the inhabitants. Death, If not de-
prived of its reality, is robbed of its gloom,
and the desire to be something, and do some
thing worthy of being remembered by gen.
erations vet unborn is, if not implanted, in
vigorated.
The Metropolis was founded in 1923. The
Jews bought a portion in the northwest
corner. This was the first purchase that
was made. The Jewish law does not permit
them to bury their dead with Gentiles,
hence the Jewish burial ground is cut off.
1t is provided with all the conveniences ne
cessary to the burying of the dead in con-
formity to the long established custom of the
descendants of the patriarch Abraham.
The Jewish mode of interment is, in the
main, the same that it was in the time of
our Saviour. The idea which the Jews, and
in fact, all other Oriental nations, had of
death, was that Of a departure, or being
gathered to their fathers. There is some
thing in the idea which is very tender. 1t
was calculated to awaken all the tenderest
affections. This led them to perform their
funeral ceremonies with ScrupulOuS care.
From the call of Abraham to the time of
our Saviour, they were by rites and ceremo-
MES, of divine appointment, "a peculiar
people not reckoned with the nations" and
to-day they are, on account of their reject
ing Jesus Christ "a peculiar people not reck-
oned with the nations" They have no
country, and there is said to be in the heart
of every Jew a longing desire that his bones
may find last resting place ''in the cave
that is in the field of Machpelah." No peo-
pie ever loved life more, or had more cor
rect estimate of life than the Jews. From
the time of Abraham down to the time of
our Saviour-a period of nearly two thou
sand years, we have an account of but three
suicides-Saul, Ahithophel and the traitor
Judas. Suicide among the Romans and
other heathen natinnS WAS not only common.