The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 16Dryden, John
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The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 16
Dryden, John
English literature
"For the burial of the dead, you shall assemble the children; and, coming
out of the church with them, the cross being at the head of the
procession, you shall sing the Christian doctrine, coming and going. You
shall say the prayers of the church at the house of the dead person, and
before he is put into the ground. You shall also make a short exhortation
to the assembly before the corpse, upon the necessity of death, the
amendment of life, and the practice of virtue.
"You shall give notice to the men on Sunday, and to the women on
Saturday, to bring their sick children into the church, that you may read
the gospel over them for their cure; and that the parents from thence may
receive increase of faith, and respect to the temples of our Lord.
"You shall yourselves determine all litigious causes; and, if you cannot
end them on the place, defer them to the next Sunday; and, after divine
service, cause them to be expedited by the principal inhabitants of the
place. Yet I will not that these sort of affairs should take up too much
of your time, nor that you prefer the care of your neighbour's temporal
concernments before works of charity, which respect the salvation of
souls; and am of opinion, that when any important business of that kind
shall happen, you should remit it to the Portuguese commandant.
"Do all things in your power to make yourselves beloved by those people;
for by that you will be able to do more good upon them, than by being
feared. Decree no punishment against any person but by the advice of
Father Antonio Criminal; and, if the commandant of the Portuguese be
present, do nothing without his order. In case any man or woman shall
make a pagod, or idol, banish them from the village, if Father Criminal
consent to it. Testify great affection to the children who frequent the
Christian schools; pardon, and wink at their faults sometimes, lest a
severe usage should fright them from us.
"In presence of a Portuguese, abstain from reproving and condemning the
natives of the country who are Christians; on the contrary, commend and
excuse them on all occasions; for, considering how lately they have
embraced the faith, and what assistance is wanting to them to live like
good Christians, it is only to be admired that they are not more vicious.
"Be serviceable in all you can to the Malabar priests, in what relates to
their spiritual advantage; take care that they confess themselves, and
say mass, and give good examples, and write nothing against them to any
person whatsoever.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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