ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑ

LETTER I. (continued 2)

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Now why this Custom of closing the Eyes of the Dead was in such Esteem and Use among the Ancients, there seem to be two Reasons: First, It being natural to Men to die with their Eyes open, as Santorellus in his Post-Praxis Medic. p. 18. Philosophically proves; and Death being compar’d to Sleep, they desir’d to have their Eyes shut, the better to resemble sleeping and taking their Rest. Secondly, They might perhaps desire it, that the By-Standers might not be offended at such an unpleasant sight as a staring Corps, with its Eyes and Mouth open, must needs present, which every one knows looks very ghastly: Besides, the noisom Smells of the fermenting Stomach were thereby hinder’d from making too swift a passage into the Room, and offending the Company. That it is therefore convenient to use this Ceremony none will deny, yet must it not be practis’d too soon, lest the Person it is to be us’d to be not actually dead, but only in an Apoplexy, 57Lethargy, or the like, and so by keeping his Mouth shut with a Muffler, be suffocated. Nor are his Eyes to be clos’d ’till after he is actually dead, lest they open again, as Santorellus affirms they will; but this and other Ceremonies of the like nature, which can in no wise further Death, in case it should prove only an Apoplexy, &c. ought to be perform’d before the Corps be quite cold, for afterwards they are not easily to be brought to a graceful order, nor will make a handsom Corps, which the Ancients so much lov’d to see: Hereupon, in a short Time after the Person was dead, they clos’d his Eyes, |Shutting the Mouth,| shut his Mouth with a Muffler, plac’d his Head streight, brought his Arms to his Breast, his Legs close to one another, and then laid the whole Body, with its Members, in a natural form and posture. But before they proceeded to Anoint or Embalm the Body, |Conclamation,| they were wont to make great noises, to rowse and awake, if possible, his fainted Spirits, and thereby fully satisfie themselves whether he were really dead, or only asleep. To the same purpose they wash’d the Body with warm Water, to the end that if it were only numm’d with Cold it might thereby be recover’d. It was a Custom among the Greeks to make a mighty Noise with the tinkling or sounding of Brazen Vessels, |Sounding of Brazen Vessels.| but the Romans us’d Conclamation, or a general Outcrie, set up at equal Intervals before the Corps, by Persons who waited there on Purpose, which was done as Pliny, Lib. 7. cap. 52. of his Natural History, and Cornelius Celsus, Præf. Lib. 1. De Re Medica, tell us, either because they hop’d by this means, to stop the Soul which was now taking its flight, or else to awaken its Faculties, which they thought might only be silent in the Body without Action; for sometimes 58such as have appear’d to be Dead, have come to Life again as Kirmannus, De F. R. Lib. 1. p. 104. affirms, and several Physicians have given many Instances of Persons, who being bury’d thro’ haste in Apopletick-Fits, &c. have afterwards come to themselves, and many times miserably perish’d for want of Assistance. For this reason the Romans, as Pancirollus and Servius observe, lest they should be bury’d alive, kept the Bodies seven or eight Days, call’d upon them at Intervals, wash’d them with warm Water, and lastly us’d Conclamation before they burn’d them, which was their manner of Burial. But Santorellus in his Post-Praxis Medica, p. 25. proves Conclamation to be a useless and insignificant Custom. First, he says, It is ridiculous to use it to such as we are satisfy’d are really Dead, from the nature of their Disease and other Symptoms. And, Secondly, To those that we are doubtful of, as in case of Lethargies, Apoplexies, Hysteric Passions, Syncopes, &c. Since therefore this is no certain Rule to inform us, these Persons being many Times neither sensible of burning nor large Scarifications, How can we expect to excite them by Clamours? This also is confirm’d by an Experiment of Galen’s, viz. Whether a Woman was really Dead that lay in an Hysteric Passion; but it was so far from proving effectual, that when she came to her self, she declar’d she knew nothing of what had been done to her. ’Tis true in small Syncopes it may perhaps rowse the Spirits a little, but in Soporous Diseases, it is commonly an uncertain and ineffectual Remedy, therefore never to be trusted, so that we may pronounce it to be a Ceremony neither necessary to be us’d, nor useful to know whether the sick Person be dead or alive.

Washing the Corps.

59The Custom of Washing and Anointing the Corps was in no wise peculiar to the Romans, but us’d likewise by the Hebrews, Greeks, Trojans and Christians, nay, in almost all the civiliz’d Parts of the World, yet ’tis certain it ows its Original to the Invention of the Egyptians. That it was us’d in the Primitive Church, appears by the Words of the Apostle, Acts 9. 37. And it came to pass in those Days she (Tabitha) was sick and dy’d, whom when they had wash’d, they laid in an upper Chamber. Also Johan. Chrysost. as we find in Theodoret, Homil. 84. Alphonsus Salmeron, Tom. 10. De Sepultura Christi; and others affirm Christ’s Body was wash’d before it was anointed. We read in Plutarch, that Philippus Libertus wash’d the Body of Pompey with Salt Water, which perhaps might be either because it was more Abstersive, or that it help’d to prevent Putrifaction, and it is not improbable the Egyptians might have been accustom’d to wash the Body with the same Pickle they us’d in the Salination, or with Phænician Wine, which they wash’d the Entrails and inside of the Body with, in order to the Preserving and Embalming it: But more commonly the Ancients us’d warm Water, both that they might thereby cherish and comfort the benumb’d and lifeless Limbs, and invite the natural Heat again into the Body, by doing which they better satisfy’d themselves whether the Body were really dead or not, and also that if it were past recovery, they might by thus cleansing the Body from all Filth and Purgings at the Nose, Mouth or lower Belly, render the Corps more decorous, and sightly, as ’tis a Custom among many at this Day, to comb the Hair, shave the Beard, and perfume the Corps with sweet Odours.

Two other Reasons are given for washing a dead 60Body, First, That it might be the fitter for anointing. Secondly, Johannes Buxtorfius, in Synagog. Jud. cap. 35. says, That it might be pure and clean when it came to give an account of its Sins. These Ceremonies were carefully practis’d among the Jews as well as the Greeks and Romans, according to what Maimonides in Tract. de Luctu, Chap. 4 Sect. 1. observes, Mos vel Consuetudo est in Israel, circa Mortuos & eorum Sepulturam, ut cum quis mortuus est, ejus Occulos occludant, & si Os ipsius fuerit apertum, Maxillas ejus ligant, ne iterum aperiatur. Obturatur etiam locus, per quem Excrementa ejiciuntur, sed hoc postquam Corpus fuerit Lotum. It was a Custom among the Israelites, says he, towards the Dead and their Burial, that whenever any one was departed, they closed his Eyes and shut his Mouth (keeping his Jaws close with a Muffler) that it might not open again. Then they stopp’d the vents of the Body, and lastly wash’d it.

Anointing the Body.

After the Body was wash’d, it was Anointed, which strictly speaking, was Embalming, and differ’d in nothing but preserving the Corps for a longer or shorter space, pursuant to the manner of performing it, the nature of the Drugs, or composition of the Ointment. This Custom of anointing the Dead was very common among the Egyptians, as Pliny in his Nat. Hist. Lib. 2. Cap. 37. writes, Egyptiis Mos est Cadavera adservare Medicata. It is a Custom among the Egyptians to keep their Bodies Embalm’d, that is, anointed and preserv’d by Aromaticks. This anointing was perform’d on the outside of the Body, with a composition of bitter and Aromatick Ingredients, after which, they stuff’d the inside with the same dry Spices and Gums as were us’d in the Ointment; in doing which, and rouling or dressing the Body, they spent Forty Days. Diodorus 61Siculus, Lib. 1. Bibliothecæ, No. 91. says, After they had wash’d the Body with Palm-Wine, wherein Aromaticks had been boil’d or steep’d, they first anointed it with Ointment of Cedar, and then with that of Myrrh, Cinnamon, and other Drugs. This not only preserv’d the Corps, but also made it fragrant and sweet, and of this Ceremony the Egyptians were the first Inventors. From them the Hebrews deriv’d their Custom of Embalming, which was us’d chiefly towards their Kings or Great Men. The first of this kind was when Joseph commanded the Physicians of Egypt to Embalm his Father Jacob, Gen. 50. 2, 3. from whom the Jews learn’d it, and brought it with them into the Land of Canaan: |The Hebrews Embalming different from that of the Egyptians.| But this manner of Anointing or Embalming among the Hebrews was very different from that of the Egyptians, for their Method was Thirty, Forty, and sometimes Seventy Days in performing, and that by Balsamic Matters put into the Cavity of the Body, they first taking out the Bowels and Entrails; but the Hebrew way was one short anointing and applying Aromatick and Balsamic Ointments to the external Parts, without any Embowelling, and this was done rather out of Respect to, and Veneration of the Dead, than to prevent any Putrifaction. Thus we read of King Asa, 2 Chron. 16. 14. That they bury’d him in his own Sepulchre, which he had made for himself in the City of David, and laid him in the Bed which was fill’d with sweet Odours and divers kinds of Spices, prepar’d by the Apothecaries Art, and they made a great Burning for him. That is, they laid his dead Corps on a Bed fill’d with such Aromaticks, prepar’d by the Apothecary, as were wont to be us’d in Embalming, and afterwards burn’d sweet Odours and Perfumes at his Funeral. Now 62this was accounted very Honourable to be done at the Exequies of Kings, and was afforded King Zedekiah, tho’ he dy’d in a strange Land, Jerem. 34. 5. Hereby it appears, thro’ the length and injuries of Time, they might lose that Art of Embalming which the Jews, their Ancestors, had learn’d from the Egyptians, or else had their Tradition so confusedly left to Posterity, that they were forc’d to deviate from the antient Custom; for the best construction we can put upon Embalming of the latter Ages, was anointing the Corps with bitter and Aromatick Ointments, compounded by the Apothecaries, |Jewish Embalming rather a Ceremony than Preserving the Corps.| which nevertheless was rather a Ceremony, and render’d the Corps sweet and fragrant, than prevented Putrifaction. Thus the most devout Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea Embalm’d the Body of Christ, both out of the Respect they bore him, and according to the Custom of their Nation. Thus, says the Text, They took the Body of Jesus, and wound it in Linnen-Cloaths, with the Spices (viz. about an Hundred weight of Myrrh and Aloes) as the Manner of the Jews is to bury, John 19. 40. Likewise Holy Mary anointed the Feet of Jesus, whilst alive, with a most costly and rich Ointment of Spikenard, which was done by way of Anticipation in order to his Burial, as the Words of our Saviour himself imply, John 12. 7. So also without doubt Lazarus, who was no mean Jew, was Embalm’d, nevertheless Martha fear’d he stunk, tho’ he had been Dead but four Days, John 11. 39. Thus you see the more Modern way of Embalming among the Jews, was only anointing the Body with an Ointment compounded of sweet Spices, whose chief Ingredients were Myrrh and Aloes, and which was not only very grateful to the Smell, but also dry’d up the Humidity 63of the Body, preventing an immediate Putrifaction, and likewise by its bitterness kept the Worms from eating it. The Custom of such like anointing the Dead was moreover very common among the Greeks, insomuch, says Athenæus Lib. 15. that they studied what Ointments were most agreeable and fitting for every Member of the Body. From them it descended to the Romans, and was accounted one of the most commendable Actions of this Life, as being an Honour which appertain’d to the Dead, as Pliny Nat. Hist. Lib. 12. cap. 1. relates, wherefore after they had wash’d the Corps, they anointed it, says he, with Odoriferous and Aromatick Ointments. The Babylonians either anointed their Dead with, or laid them in Hony. The Persians and Scythians did the same with Wax. The Æthiopians with a sort of Parget; and others us’d Compositions either of Salt, Nitre, Asphalt, Bitumen, Cedar, Balsam, Gypsum, Lime, Petrole, Naptha, Turpentine, Rosin, or the like, of which see Kirkmannus de F. R. p. 62.

Anointing the Dead to what purpose us’d.

Now the general Intention of these Anointings, was either that such Bodies as were to be bury’d might thereby smell sweet and pleasant, and be kept a long while uncorrupt, or else that those that were to be burn’d might not only catch Fire the sooner; but also to the end the Air might be perfum’d by the sweet smelling Ointments and Balsams, and thereby the Stench of the burning Flesh not be perceiv’d. Others give a threefold Reason for this sort of Embalming, as, First, A Physical, That all Stench and Putrifaction might be driven away from the Body. Secondly, A Civil, That it was a principal Honour exhibited to Just Men. And, Thirdly, A Mystical, It being a Testification of 64our Faith in the Resurrection of Bodies, and a Symbol of future Incorruptibility. Vide Quenstedt De Sepult. Vet. p. 85.

Attiring the Corps,

After the Body was wash’d and anointed, they wrapp’d it in fine Linnen, and drest it in a proper Habit. The first is only to be understood a Winding-Sheet, either intire, or in two, three or more pieces, fitted to the Head, Trunk and Limbs of the Body, bound on with Roulers; but the latter was various according to the sort of Garment, or Quality of the Deceas’d: The first was usually white, prepar’d by some Woman or Friend in the Persons Life-Time, on purpose for this particular use; the other was of divers colours, as Purple, Scarlet, &c. and of several degrees of Richness, according to the Rank, Quality or Profession of the Deceas’d, or as he had perform’d any extraordinary Exploit in War, or otherwise honourably behav’d himself for the Honour of his Country. So that as the one was such as he usually wore in his Life-Time, the other was more Splendid, and given for a Reward to his Virtues. Hence it is the Dead were term’d proud, as having never wore so rich a Garment during their Lives, says Sosia apud Plautum in Amphitruone. This Custom is said to have been first us’d by the Greeks, but if we enquire more strictly into it, we shall find this, as well as other Ceremonies, owes its Origin to the Egyptians, tho’ the manner of performing it be different; |With fine Linnen and a Vest.| for the Greeks cover’d their Dead from Head to Foot, first with fine Linnen, and then put over that a white Vest, which was a sort of Pallium or Cloak they wore commonly when alive. So likewise the Athenians and Lacedemonians dress’d their Dead in a Garb suitable to every ones Condition, and honourably 65adorn’d such as had behav’d themselves well in War with a Purple or Crimson Vest, as Alexander Sardus de Mor. & Rit. Gent. Lib. 1. cap. 25. relates. As the Greeks put on their Dead the Pallium, so the Romans us’d their Toga or Gown, conformable to every One’s degree. That ordinarily us’d at the Funerals of vulgar Citizens was also white, but the Richer sort, as likewise those that had acquir’d Honour by their Valour and Vertue, were more splendidly Attir’d and carry’d out in State in the view of the Public, so that any one might know the Face and Sex of the Deceas’d from the manner of their Cloaths and Ornaments. Now this was so well observ’d by the Ancients, that as Juvenal, Satyr 3. informs us, in some parts of Italy, tho’ the Inhabitants were so rude as not to wear the Toga whilst they liv’d, yet would they not want it at their Deaths:

Pars magna Italiæ est, si verum admittimus in qua,

Nemo Togam sumit nisi Mortuus.

Some distant Parts of Italy are known,

Where none but only dead Men wear a Gown.

Also the Jews us’d to wrap their Dead in fine Linnen, but differ’d from others in this respect, That they did not hold it lawful to dress the Body of a Prince in a more costly Garment than others had, and as Cl. Salmasius apud Tho. Bartholinum de Latere Christi aperto, p. 377. observes, the Body of our Saviour was only wrapp’d in fine Linnen, his Head in a Sudarium or Handkerchief, and the whole swathed up from Head to Foot, with Rowlers like to the Swathes of Children. 66John Henry Heiddegger in Dissert. de Sepult. Mort. Sect. 30. divides this Linnen into three sorts: First, A short piece, which was call’d Sudarium. Secondly, A longer, nam’d Syndon. And, Thirdly, That which kept both these on, bound up the Hands and Feet, and cover’d the rest of the Body, was term’d Fascia or a Swathing-Band. This seems clearly intimated in the Gospel of St. John, 11. 44. And he that was dead came forth, bound Hand and Foot with Grave-Cloaths, and his Face was bound up with a Napkin: Therefore we are to understand, as the Evangelist here speaks of Lazarus, that the Arms were laid close to the Body, so that they almost reach’d the Knees, and afterwards rowl’d up together with it; |Why the Body should be Cloath’d.| but it may perhaps be ask’d why the Body should be Cloath’d at all, and why it might not be as well carry’d out Naked and uncover’d? To this Antonius Santorellus in his Post-Praxis Medica, p. 104. answers, That all Nations have taught the Body ought to be Cloath’d, since no Man has hitherto every been so immodest as not to be asham’d of his own Nakedness; for altho’ this seems to signifie nothing to the Dead, who are without Sense or Shame, yet because the Eyes of the Living are offended at the Nakedness of the Body, all have for that Reason thought fit to Cloath their Dead: Moreover, not only Deformity is thereby remov’d from a Corps, but we thus procure as much as possible that it may appear Comely, and besides ’tis more decent to see a Body Cloath’d than Naked. On this account the Greeks Cloath’d their Dead in white Vests or Garments, |Why with white Vests.| by reason of the purity of that Colour, White, according to Plutarch in Problem. being alone sincere, pure, and no ways infected, so that the Dead seem to be render’d in a manner simple, pure 67and separate from any mixture: But at length a certain Luxury of Ostentation crepp’d into these Habits, wherefore the Spartan Law-Giver Lycurgus, order’d that Persons of the greatest Valour and Worth should be bury’d in nothing but a red Coat, which was the common Dress of Soldiers, and that the rest should be deny’d even that; for he thought it wholly absurd and unreasonable the Dead should be deck’d with superfluous Ornaments and Riches, therefore neither Ointments nor Perfumes were us’d in that Common-Wealth, being look’d on as conducing nothing to the Felicity of the Dead, and therefore unworthy of the Lacedemonians Gravity. Thus St. Jerom inveighs against them: Cur & Mortuos vestros auratis obvolvis Vestibus? Cur Ambitio inter Luctus, Lacrymasq; non cessat? An Cadavera Divitum, nisi in serico, putrescere nequeunt? Why do ye Cloath even your Dead in Cloth of Tissue? Whence comes Ambition to continue amidst Grief and Sorrow? Cannot a Rich Carcass, think ye, rot out of a Silk-Covering? St. Chrisostom also thus exclaims: O inanem Gloriam! Quantam in Luctu Vim, quantam Amentiam ostendit! O empty Glory! How does it exert it self in Grief, how discover its Madness! Likewise in Homil. 84. he thus writes, Tu cum audieris Nudum Dominum resurrexisse, cessa, quæso, ab insana Funeris impensa. Quid sibi hoc superfluum vult & inutile Dispendium, quod ipsis, qui faciunt, plurimum affert Detrimenti, Mortuis nullum Utilitatem vel Damnum potius? Sumptuosa namq; Sepultura nonnunquam Causa est, ut Fures Cadaver effodiant, & nudum & insepultum projiciant. Thou when thou shalt hear thy Lord rise from the Dead, naked and unadorn’d, refrain, I beseech thee, from thy vain Funeral-Expences. What signifies all this superfluous 68and unprofitable Charge, which many times prejudices the Living, yet never does any Good to the Dead, but rather Harm? For oftentimes it happens a costly and sumptuous Interment, tempts Thieves to dig up the Rich Carcass, and throw it out Naked and unbury’d. Hence St. Austin, speaking of his Mother, says, Illa iminente Die, non curavit Corpus suum sumptuose contegi. She with her last Breath did desire her Body might not be splendidly Interr’d. Notwithstanding this, the aforesaid St. Chrisostom approves the use of these Things in a moderate way; for after he had so severely inveigh’d against them, he thus concludes, Non ut Sepulturam tollam, dico absit, sed Luxuriam & superfluam Ambitionem. I am not for taking Burial wholly away, far be that Thought from me, but I would have Luxury and unnecessary Ambition retrench’d.

Antonius Santorellus thinks the Body ought to be carry’d out cover’d, as well in respect to the Living as the Dead, to the Living, lest they may be offended by some small Perspirations of the Carcass, and to the Dead; lest being uncover’d, it might be more liable to external Injuries. For this Reason the Egyptians, who were wont to keep their Dead publickly in their Houses, richly attir’d them in fine Linnen, and adorn’d them with Gold and precious Stones; also painted them with Hieroglyphicks, thereby setting them forth in the most noble manner. Thus by such a kind of Cloathing as is us’d in Embalming, viz. wrapping in Cerecloth, &c. all other Inconveniencies are prevented, nor can it be thought so great a Vanity to Cloath a preserv’d Corps as one that is corrupt and putrifying; but we may allow it reasonable enough to adorn such in a moderate way, suitable to its Quality.

Crowning the Dead.

69When the Body was dress’d, they Crown’d it, which Custom was first us’d by the Greeks, Lacedemonians and Athenians, from whom it descended to the Romans: Now if the Deceas’d had, thro’ Valour in War, obtain’d but any one of the honourary Crowns, it was put on his Head, and carry’d out with him to his Burial; and this, to the end the Reward of Virtue might in some measure be enjoy’d after Death. For this reason Cicero observes, Lib. 2. De Legibus, That the Laws commanded that Crown which was gotten by Virtue, should, without fraud, be put on him that obtain’d it, and that such Ornaments of Praise belong’d to the Dead. Other Persons were Crown’d with Chaplets of Flowers and green Branches, such as Lillies, Roses and Violets, Olive and Bay-Leaves, and the like precious Flowers and Plants. With these they likewise adorn’d the Couch the Body was to lye on, as the Jews did theirs with sweet Odours and Spices, as we have before observ’d of King Asa, 2 Chron. 16. 14. Also in like manner as we at this Day fill Coffins with the like Perfumes, or for want of them, with sweet Herbs and Flowers, viz. Rosemary, Lavender, Marjoram, Time, Flowers of Jessamin, Orange, Lillies of the Valley, &c.

Whence Deriv’d, and to what End.

This Ceremony of Crowning the Dead, Suidas thinks was either taken from the Games, wherein the Conquerors were rewarded with Crowns of Leaves, signifying the Dead had finish’d their Course, or was design’d to express the unmix’d and Everlasting Pleasures the Dead were to enjoy upon their Removal out of this sinful and troublesom World, for Garlands were Emblems of Mirth and Rejoycing, therefore usually worn at Banquets and Festivals. The same may be 70observ’d of Ointments and Perfumes, the constant Concomitants of Gaiety and Joy. But whatever was the cause of these Customs being so generally observ’d by the Heathens, it was not approv’d by the Primitive Christians, but look’d on as little less than Idolatry, as may be particularly seen in Minutius Fælix in Octav. p. 109. and in Tertullian de Corona Mil. Nevertheless, Antonius Santorellus in his Post-Praxis Medica, p. 151. says, If Crowns were invented as Ornaments, and to preserve Health, Pleasure and Virtue, why may not the Dead be Crown’d? And since those who fought boldly and strenuously, were among the Heathens adorn’d with various sorts of Crowns, why may not the Christians, who fight for Eternal Health, and overcome more powerfull Enemies (the Lusts of the Flesh) be thought more worthy of such Crowns? Nor has it displeas’d some Christians, tho’ perhaps it might the Primitive, to carry a Garland before the Corps, or fill the Coffin, or strow the Way or Grave with Flowers, and this without any manner of Superstition. Thus Prudentius a Christian Poet writes:

Nos tecta fovebimus Ossa,

Violis & Fronde frequenti,

Tumulumq; & frigida Saxa,

Liquido spargemus Odore.

We on the cover’d Bones o’th Dead,

Sweet Violets and Leaves will strow,

Whilst the Tomb, that cold hard Bed,

Shall with our liquid Odours flow.

Laying out the Corps.

The next Ceremony that follow’d, was laying out the Corps, which after it was Wash’d, Anointed, 71Cloath’d and Crown’d, was brought from the inner part of the House into the Porch or Entrance, and laid at the very Threshold. The poorest People were laid on the Ground or a Bier in an ordinary Coffin, &c. But the richer Sort on a Bed or Couch, adorn’d sometimes with Jewels, Arms, Books and other Things in which they most delighted whilst they liv’d, but commonly with all kinds of fragrant and precious Flowers. Now the Reason why they thus plac’d the Corps in public View, was that all Persons might satisfie themselves whether the Deceas’d had any Wounds, or other Marks of an untimely and violent Death. The like Custom we have in those we call Searchers, who are to examine into the Cause of the Persons Death, make their Report accordingly, and give an Affidavit thereof: It may be farther observ’d, the Feet of the Deceas’d were always turn’d next the Door or Gate, to shew they were never to return after they were thus carry’d out. This Custom, says Pliny, is but according to the Course of Nature, for we usually come into the World Head foremost, but are carry’d out the contrary way, of which see Kornmannus de Mirac. Mortuor, Cap. 58. Whilst the Body lay in this Place, ’twas customary to give it constant Attendance, to defend it from any Violence or Affront that might be offer’d. The Corps being thus decently laid out on the Couch or Bier, is now rightly compos’d for Sepulture, and in a readiness to be carry’d out to the Grave, so soon as these Ceremonies shall be ended; the next Thing therefore we have to speak of is the carrying it out to be Interr’d.

Carrying forth the Corps.

Thus much was done before the Funeral, at it we may take notice of two Things, the Elatio or carrying 72forth, and the Act of Burial. What concerns the first of these will appear by our observing the Day, Time, Persons and Place; what Day after the Person’s decease was appointed for the Funeral is not well agreed on, nor does it seem to have been limited, but was various, according to the Custom of the Country, or Circumstance of the People. Alexander ab Alexandro in Lib. 3. cap. 7. Gen. Dier, tells us Bodies were kept seventeen Days and as many Nights before they were Interr’d. Also Servius was of Opinion, the Time of Burning the Dead was the Eighth Day after Death, and the Time of Burying the Ninth; but this must only be understood of the Funerals of Great Persons, which could not be duly solemniz’d without extraordinary Preparations, whereas Men of inferior Rank, were committed to the Ground without so much Ceremony and Pomp. The antient Burials seem to have been on the Third and Fourth Day after Death, nor was it unusual to perform Solemnities, especially of the poorer Sort, on the very Day of their Death, yet are there many Instances to prove no set number of Days were observ’d; however, this Care ought particularly to be taken, that the Dead be not carry’d out too soon, for thro’ too much haste, it has sometimes happen’d the Living have been bury’d for the Dead.

The Time of carrying forth the Corps was likewise various, |By some us’d in the Day and by others in the Night.| and us’d either in the Morning, at Noon, or in the Night, according to the Custom of the Country, or Conveniency and Condition of the Person deceas’d. Thus the Athenians made their Funeral Processions before the Sun-Rising, and the Greeks perform’d the like Ceremony in the forepart of the Day, or about Noon: So also the Hebrews bury’d their Dead 73in the Day-Time, as Sopranes, David. dig. fol. 487. asserts; but the Romans made use only of the Night, as the name of Funeral, Servius thinks, denotes, being, as he says, deriv’d a Funalibus, from the Torches, in like manner as the Vespillones (Bearers) were so call’d from Vesper the Evening; yet this Custom was not long observ’d at least in publick Funerals, tho’ it seems to have continu’d in private ones, nevertheless, the carrying of Torches and Tapers still remain’d in practice, even when the Dead were bury’d in the Day-Time. This was a greater extravagance than the other, inasmuch as tho’ in burying by Day they at first intended to suppress the Charge of Torches, &c. yet at last they not only burn’d these in vain to light the Sun, but also increas’d all other Funeral-Expences to that degree, that Laws were fain to be made to restrain them; but, omitting such superfluous Ceremonies, we must grant the Day-Time to be the fittest for publick Funerals, and the Night for private ones, both which have been us’d indifferently, as Occasion serv’d, as well by the Primitive Christians as others: The first were chiefly chosen whilst they were in a quiet State, but the latter were made use of in Times of Persecution.

How carry’d forth to the Grave.

Now as concerning the Act or manner of carrying forth the dead Body, from the House wherein it was prepar’d for Burial, to the place where it was to be interr’d, it is said of the antient Grecians, that they carry’d such out without any support, tho’ it was a more frequent Custom in the antient Church to bear the Dead on Mens Shoulders; afterwards they plac’d them in a Coffin, on a Bier, Bed, or Couch of State, and so convey’d them to the Sepulchre on their Shoulders. This Duty was generally perform’d by the next 74Heir or nearest Relations, and sometimes the Magistrates, Senators or chief of the Nobility bore the Bodies of those who had deserv’d highly of the Common-Wealth, of which see several Examples in Quenstedt, p. 114. but Persons of meaner Rank, nay, and sometimes even Great Men, that had been hated by the People, were carry’d forth to their Burial by the Vespillones or Sandapilarii, that is, the Sextons or common Bearers, who liv’d by that Employ, and in this last way of bearing out the Dead, we may suppose them to have us’d the Sandapila or common Bier, as the others did the Lecticæ or Lecti, that is, the Litters or Beds; for the Romans us’d two sorts of Biers, the one call’d Lectica, which was for the Rich, and the other Sandapila, for the Poor. We read of this Bed in the carrying forth of Abner, 2 Sam. 3. 31. where the Translation is, that King David himself follow’d the Bier, which word in Hebrew signifies a Bed. How this was wont to be perfum’d with Spices and deck’d with precious Flowers has been intimated before, as also how the Corps was Dress’d, Crown’d and expos’d to public View; but here we will take notice of the Pride and Vanity of the Romans, who were accustom’d to Paint or put a beautifying Wash on such whose Faces were deform’d, that they might thereby appear handsomer while Dead than Living, which Custom is said to be us’d even in France and Italy at this Day; but in case the Visage were very much distorted by its Change, bruis’d by the fall of an House, maim’d by any other Accident, or the like, so that it was not fit to be seen, then were they wont to throw a Covering or Pall over it.

Persons at the Funeral.

The Persons present at Funerals were the Dead Man’s Friends and Relations, who thought themselves 75under an Obligation to pay this last Respect to their deceas’d Parent or Friend, who commonly had Legacies left in his Will, that they might appear in decent Mourning, and accompany the Corps with greater Solemnity: Besides these, others were frequently invited to encrease the Funeral-Procession, but this only where the Laws did not restrain such Pomp as they sometimes did in some Places, either to prevent the Disorders that often happen’d at such promiscuous Meetings, or to moderate the excessive Charges of Funerals.

The Mourning-Habit.

The Habit these Persons wore was not always the same, for tho’ they sometimes put on Mourning, and, in common Funerals, retain’d their ordinary Apparel, yet were the Exequies of Great Men commonly celebrated among the Pagans, with expressions of Joy for the reception of the Dead into Heaven. The Herse was follow’d by abundance of Men and Women cloath’d in white Garments, and bedeck’d with Garlands, as is usual in Festival-Solemnities. The Funeral was solemniz’d with Pæans, or Songs of Triumph, and Dances: This Custom was in use among the Greeks. The Chineses, Syracusans and Argives mourn’d in white, as did also the antient Romans; but after their Empire was settl’d they us’d black. The Hebrews, &c. mourn’d in black; the Carthaginians hung their Walls with black, whence at this Day, to show the greater demonstration of Grief, Palaces of Emperors, Kings and Princes, as likewise Churches and Houses of private Persons, are upon like occasions us’d to be hung with black, which Custom was anciently practis’d by many Nations, by reason this Colour was accounted the most agreeable to Mourning and Sorrow.

The Funeral Procession.

76Next we shall speak of the Funeral Procession, and of such Persons as went before and usually follow’d the Funeral-Bed: When the Herald had marshall’d all in good Order, the Procession began to move, and we are to take notice it was often made on Horseback or in Coaches; but at the Funerals of Persons, to whom a more than ordinary Respect was due, all went on Foot: First march’d the Musicians with Trumpets, Flutes, Cornets, Pipes and other Musical-Instruments, sounding most sorrowful and mournful Notes; next came the Præficæ or Women hir’d to mourn and sing doleful Songs in Praise of the Deceas’d: These us’d strange Shriekings and Gesticulations, beating their Breasts, tearing their Hair and the like, so that by their false Tears and feign’d Sorrow, they mov’d others to cry in good earnest. These foolish Songs and ridiculous Incantations Justinian the Emperor prohibited, introducing in their room Psalms and Hymns, which among the Christians continue to be sung before the Corps even at this Day, and that to cherish their Hearts and allay their Grief. If the Deceas’d had been eminent for his Warlike Atchievements, then the Arms, Standards and other Trophies taken by him were usually carry’d before him. Next follow’d the Priests and Religious Orders, tho’ the ordinary way was for the Body to go first and the rest to follow, whereby the Survivors were put in mind of their Mortality, and warn’d to remember they were all to go the same way the Deceas’d had gone before them: Then immediately after the Corps came the Relations or true Mourners, apparell’d in proper Habits, and the Women with their Hair dishevell’d and their Faces cover’d with Veils; the rest follow’d at some distance, 77and the Funeral-Pomp was clos’d up by the common People.

Manner of Mourning.

But to speak somewhat of the antient Manner of Mourning, you must know that was various according to the several Customs of Countries, yet this may be laid down as a general Rule amongst most Nations, that the better to express their Sorrow for the loss of a deceas’d Relation or Friend, they on occasion of his Death differ’d as much as could be from their ordinary Habit and Behaviour. Hence Mourners in some Cities demean’d themselves after the same manner that in other Countries express’d Joy, and what was esteem’d Rejoycing in some was in others a token of Sorrow: For Example, in some Places it was customary to wear short Hair, where long was a token of Mourning, but in others, where long Hair was in Fashion, Mourners were accustom’d to shave themselves. The most usual ways, whereby the Ancients express’d their Sorrow, was by refraining from Musick, Banquets and Entertainments, from Garlands or Crowning themselves, from Wine and strong Drink, and in a Word, from every thing that occasion’d Mirth, or look’d Gay and Pleasant: Such things were not judg’d fitting to be admitted into so melancholly a Society as that of Mourners, to whom even the Light was to be odious, and nothing desirable but Darkness and lonesom Retirements. These they thought best suited with their Misfortunes, and therefore sequester’d themselves from all Company and publick Solemnities, nay even refrain’d from the very Comforts and Conveniences of Life. They usually confin’d themselves within Doors, and abstain’d from all Luxury, Ointments, Baths, Venery, &c. and on the contrary fasted and put on black 78Habits, differing not only in Colour from their ordinary Apparel, but also in Value, being only of a course and cheap Stuff. They sprinkl’d Dust on their Heads, nay, rowl’d in the very Dirt, thinking they shew’d the greater Sorrow and Dejection by how much they were the more dirty and nasty. These Customs were likewise practis’d in the East, whence we find so frequent mention of Penitents lying on the Ground, and putting on Sackcloth and Ashes: |With Sackcloth and Ashes.| They were so far from wearing good Apparel, that they frequently burn’d their richest Goods and Cloaths, and rent and tore what they had off their Backs, on the first news of any great Calamity: Thus Reuben did, Gen. 37. 29, and Verse 34. Jacob rent his Cloaths, and put Sackcloth on his Loins, and mourn’d for his Son many Days. So in the 2 Samuel 3. 31. David commanded his Servants to mourn for Abner; and thus also mourn’d Hezekiah, 2 Kings 19. 1. See also Nehem. 9. 1. Esther, 4. 1. and Lamentations 2. 10.

Cutting and tearing their Flesh.

They also on such occasions shav’d off their Hair, beat their Breasts, cut their Flesh, and with their Nails tore holes in their Faces, that they might appear the more deform’d and discontented. These frantick Actions, tho’ practis’d sometimes by Men, were more frequent among Women, whose Passions were more violent and ungovernable; they wore their Hair long, dishevel’d and carelessly flowing about, contrary to the usage of the Men who shav’d theirs. The Heathens were so superstitious in these Ceremonies, that they extended the Practice of them to a higher degree than the Jews, for they hir’d feign’d Mourners to make frightful Howlings and sad Lamentations for the Dead, and were wont to cause even their Horses, Mules, &c. 79to share in their Sorrows, by shaving their Manes, and the like. These cruel and ridiculous Ceremonies were restrain’d by Laws made on purpose, to restrain such Excesses in Funerals; |Moderate Weeping commendable.| nevertheless a moderate Sorrow and Mourning was never disallow’d, but on the contrary commended and promis’d as a Blessing to the Godly, and the want thereof threaten’d as a Malediction or Curse, Isaiah 57. 1. To mourn at the Interment of our Friends (says Weever, p. 16.) is a manifest Token of our true Love: By it we express that natural Affection we had to the departed Person, but this ought always to be with a Christian moderation, whereby our Faith towards GOD is demonstrated. He gave us natural Affections, and commanded us to love one another, and is not pleas’d such Love should end with our Friends Life, but rather that we should retain all due Respect to his Memory. Antonio de Guevara in his 10th Letter, English’d by Mr. Savage, says, The Heart of Man is tender, and not able to part with any Thing it loves without Concern. This daily Experience teaches us even in Brutes, who will in like manner mourn for the Absence or Death of their Companions or Young; for this Reason our Author thus Expostulates, Why should we not, says he, be allow’d to shed Tears and lament over the Graves of our Friends, since we are of a superiour Nature to Beasts? Some account Weeping a weakness and effeminacy, but there are sufficient Examples to prove the contrary, |Us’d by Kings and Patriarchs.| for if such great and wise Men as Kings and Patriarchs wept, surely a moderate Mourning for the Dead is justifiable and pious; nay, the Holy Scripture shews how those devout Men were commended who made great Lamentations over Stephen’s Burial. We read 80in the Old Testament how Abraham mourn’d and wept for his Wife Sarah, Gen. 23. 2. and in Chap. 50. ver. 1, 10, 17. we find Joseph wept over his dead Father Jacob, and mourn’d for him: So King David follow’d the Bier of Abner weeping, and when he came to the Grave, both he and all the People wept, 2 Sam. 3. 31, 32. At another Time, when he heard the News of his Sons being slain, He arose and tore his Garments and lay on the Earth, and all his Servants stood by with their Cloaths rent, 2 Sam. 13. 31. likewise Verse 33, 36. when it was told that only Amnon was dead, The King’s Sons lift up their Voices and wept, and the King also, and all his Servants wept very sore. At another Time he made great Lamentation for his Son Absalom, 2 Sam. 18. 3. nevertheless he did not allow of immoderate Grief and Mourning, but reprov’d it himself, as you may read, 2 Sam. 12. 23. and this because it was vain to do so, and could never recover the Dead; so that when he bewail’d the Death of Saul and Jonathan, of Abner and Absalom, it was out of Love to them, and by reason the Common-Wealth had a loss by some of their Deaths, and because others of them died in their Sins. These may be sufficient Reasons moderately to mourn for the Dead; but we read of several other good Men who wept on other Occasions, as the Man of God, 2 Kings 8. 11. Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20. 3. Nehemiah 1. 4. and Christ himself, |By our Saviour.| who was never known to laugh, is recorded to have wept twice, once over the foreseen Desolation of Jerusalem, Luke 19. 41. and another Time over the Grave of Lazarus, John 11. 35. from which last, the Jews collected his Love towards the Dead: Now as Weeping on the Death of a Friend 81expresses our Grief for the Loss of him, and is done out of Respect and Love to him, so does it likewise moderate our Passion and allay our Concern, |Weeping allays Grief.| as Ovid in his Epistles speaks:

Flere licet certe, flendo diffudimus Iram.

We certainly may Weep, weeping allays our Grief.

And in the Fourth Book of his De Tristibus, Eleg. 3.

——Est quædam flere Voluptas,

Expletur Lacrymis, egeriturq; Dolor.

There is a certain Pleasure springs from Tears,

They ease our Grief and sooth our coming Years.

Also St. Ambrose, speaking of the Death of Valentine, says, Pascunt frequenter Lacrymæ, & Mentem allevant Fletus, refrigerant Pectus, & Mæstum consolantur: Est quoq; piis Affectibus quædam Flendi Voluptas, & plerumq; graves Lacrymas evaporat Dolor. Tears and Weepings oftentimes refresh the Mind, and comfort the afflicted Soul: There is a kind of Pleasure in Godly Passions, for frequently by many Tears Grief vanishes. Likewise St. Chrisostom makes this Comparison, Quemadmodum, says he, per vehementes Imbres, mundus Aer ac purus efficitur; haud secus post Lacrymarum Pluvias, Serenitas Mentis sequitur & Tranquilitas. In like manner as the Air is purify’d and cleans’d by vehement Showers, so from a greater Effusion of Tears, a Serenity and Tranquility of Mind follows. As for the other Uses of Weeping, see Santorellus in his Post-Praxis Medica, p. 30. who writes Philosophically of its Nature and Cause.

Following the Corps.

82Besides these Mourners and Relations there follow’d a great number of Friends and Acquaintance to the Place of Burial; for it was not only look’d on as a Duty, but a religious Friendship to attend a Corps to its Grave. Thus we read, Joseph went up to Bury his Father, and with him all the Servants of Pharaoh, the Elders of his House, and all the Elders of Egypt, Gen. 50. 7. and this even from the Land of Egypt to Canaan. So King David and all his Servants follow’d the Bier of Abner, 2 Sam. 3. 31. and we read in Luke 7. 12. that much People of the City of Naim follow’d the Widow’s Son.

The Corps being brought forth to the Place of Burial, after the manner already describ’d, within or without the City, |The Act of Burial.| the next Thing was the Act of Burial. This has been perform’d various ways, but the two most common, were either Burying or Burning, whether of which be the most eligible we shall next enquire into. Burial is the more antient, as having been us’d in the Primitive Ages by the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and most other Nations, yet the two latter burn’d their Dead, as is pretended on the following Considerations. First, That Worms and such like vile Insects might be thereby prevented from corroding the noble Bodies of the Dead, and the Living be freed from the Infection and Stench of Carcasses rotting in the Earth. Secondly, Because Fire purefy’d the Dead, and was the quickest way of Incineration, or reducing Bodies to their first Elements, whereby the Soul being set at Liberty, might take its Flight to the Heavenly Mansions. Thirdly, Being so immediately reduc’d to Ashes, it could not be easily inform’d and mov’d about by the Devil, to the great Terror 83and Amazement of all People. And, Lastly, they likewise thought it secur’d them from the Exultation of the Enemy, in exposing and abusing their Corps, which last I take to be the true Occasion of Burning their Dead: For as Pliny says, Lib. 7. cap. 54. Sylla having dug up the Body of Caius Marius, his mortal Enemy, and fearing the like Fate, engag’d the People by an express Law, that they should for the future burn both him and others after they were dead, and this tho’ none of the Cornelii his Predecessors had ever been burn’d. From hence it was the Romans brought in the Custom of Burning their Dead, which was perform’d after the following manner:

Burning the Dead.

Having erected a Pile in form of an Altar, made either of ordinary Wood, such as Oak, Ash, Olive, Pine, Fir, and the like resiniferous Trees, which caus’d it easily to catch Fire, or else of odoriferous, such as Cedar, Cypress, Mirtle, &c. They plac’d the Corps with the Couch thereon, and then set round about the Arms, Sword, Belt or Spoils taken in War of the Deceas’d, his best Houshold-Goods and richest Apparel, his finest Horses, Dogs or the like, and in the more barbarous Ages his Slaves, all which, having first slain the Beasts, &c. they burn’d together with him. In some Places the Wives flung themselves alive into the Pile, and were burn’d with their Husbands, and commonly all such Things as the Deceas’d most valu’d while they liv’d, besides abundance of rich Presents brought by Relations and Friends, all sorts of Perfumes and sweet Odours, such as Cinamon, Cassia, Frankinsence, &c. and odoriferous Oils and Ointments were burn’d with them, as we read the Israelites us’d to do at the Burials of their Kings, as they did at that 84of Asa, 2 Chron. 16. 14. and other Places. When the Pile was burn’d down, the nearest Relations gather’d up the Ashes and Bones, |Ossilegium.| and having wash’d them with Wine, Milk or Water, put them into Urns made of different kinds of Matter, such as Gold, Silver, Brass, Marble, Glass, Earthen-Ware, Cedar, and the like; then they pour’d out Tears upon them, which being catch’d in small Vessels call’d Lacrymatoriæ, were reposited with the Urn in a Tomb.

Funeral Oration.

An Oration or Funeral-Sermon was likewise solemnly pronounc’d in Praise of the Deceas’d, by a Person appointed for that purpose by the public Magistrate. When the Funeral was over, other Ceremonies were perform’d in Honour of the Dead as Festivals, which may be reduc’d to these three Heads, Sacrifices, Feasts and Games.

Sacrifices.

The Sacrifices consisted of Liquors, Victims and Garlands; the Liquors were Wine, Milk, Water, Blood, Honey and liquid Balsam.

Feasts.

The Feasts were either Publick or Private: The Private were kept about the Tomb of the Deceas’d by the nearest Relations and Friends only, being prepar’d both for the Dead and Living. The Repast design’d for the Dead consisting commonly of Beans, Lettices, Bread and Eggs, or the like, was laid on the Tomb for the Deceas’d to come out and Eat, as they fancy’d he would. The Public Feasts were when the Heirs or Friends of some Rich or Great Dead Person oblig’d the People with a general Treat to his Honour and Memory.

Games.

The Funeral Games consisted of a great number of Gladiators, fighting with Beasts, &c. the Ancients thinking the Dead delighted in such bloody Sacrifices; 85but this Barbarous Custom of burning the Dead continu’d no longer than the Time of the Antonines, who being virtuous Princes abhorr’d such Cruelties, and therefore brought Burial again into Practice. Thus it plainly appears, Burial was not only more antient but more eligible than Burning, since one was admitted upon Choice and the other by Compulsion; for so soon as such cruel minded Persons were remov’d, Burial was again introduc’d: Besides, as it appears by Holy Writ and the Canon-Law, Burning was a most ignominious way of dealing with the Dead, to which none were expos’d but such as had lain with Beasts or their own Sex; and we at this Day only burn Female-Traitors, or such as have kill’d their Husbands, &c. thereby to show the Heinousness of their Crime; on the contrary, Sepulture was always esteem’d Honourable among GOD’s People. Thus the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, as also Moses were bury’d, and the last particularly by GOD himself, Deut. 34. 7. Likewise the Holy Fathers, St. Austin, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, and most of the Primitive Christians were for having their Bodies bury’d and not burn’d: |Situation of the Dead in their Sepulchres.| But as for the manner of Burying or placing them in their Sepulchres, that was various, according to the different Opinions or Customs of several Nations, a few of which we shall here relate. The Egyptians set dead Bodies on their Feet, as Solinus observes:

————Ægyptia Tellus

Claudit odorato post Funus stantia Busto

Corpora.————

The Egyptians, when the Funeral-Pomp was made,

Shut up in odorous Tombs the standing Dead.

86The Phænicians bury’d the Dead on their Backs, yet turn’d them to the West, in Imitation of the Setting-Sun, as the Athenians did to the East in regard of its Rising. The Nasamones, a People of Africa, did not only for the greatest part die sitting, but also bury’d their Dead in that Posture, and the Inhabitants of Megara plac’d their Dead with their Faces downwards: So Diogenes desir’d to be bury’d, his Reason being, that as he believ’d the World would at last be turn’d topsie-turvy, he then should lye upright: Yet the general way was to lye with the Face upwards towards the Fountain of Life, and Abodes of the Celestial Gods, and to be so situated in the Grave, as to see the Rising-Sun. As for the Christians, they bury’d their Dead supine, as looking towards Heaven, where their sole Hopes were plac’d, and towards the East as waiting for the Resurrection.

Next let us consider the Places where the Ancients us’d to bury their Dead, and how they dug their Graves, and erected their Sepulchres and Monuments. In order to this you must know, First, That Sepulchres were not always of a kind, nor might all People be bury’d in the same Place of Sepulture, but proper ones were invented for different Degrees and Ranks, so that some were Public and some Private; some common or belonging to all, and others peculiar to one Family, and these again either built by the Persons whilst alive, or order’d by their Wills how they would have them erected after their Deaths. |Monuments Built during Life.| Thus Absalom in his Life-Time erected a Pillar to preserve his Memory in case his Issue-Male fail’d, 2 Sam. 18. 18. which Pillar, hewn out of a Rock or Quarry, he intended for his Sepulchre, and which, according to Sandys, is 87to be seen at this Day. Augustus Cæsar, in the 6th Year of his Consulship, built a Funeral-Monument for himself and Successors; but that Mausoleum, as Xiphilinus writes, being full in the Time of Adrian, that Emperor rais’d himself a Tomb or Sepulchre near the Pons Ælius. Nay it was usual for such as were careful of their Burials, to provide their own Tombs in their Lives Time, and this for their better Satisfactions, with these or the like Inscriptions:

VIVUS FECIT. VIVUS SIBI POSUIT.

VIVUS FACIENDUM CURAVIT.

For the same Reason King Henry the Seventh built a fair and glorious Chapel at Westminster as an House of Burial for himself, his Children, and such only of the Blood-Royal as should descend from his Loins, forbidding all others of what Degree or Quality soever to be interr’d in that sacred Mould, as appears by his last Will and Testament, Weever p. 20. Now, as for such as did not build their Monuments themselves, but only order’d them by their last Wills, it was held such Wills could not be violated with a safe Conscience, nor might any one change, alienate or detract from them; for since Monuments were invented as well to preserve Mens Memories as their Bodies, it would be very hard and inhuman to deprive them of them, yet has there been such base Heirs, as appears by the Inscriptions of some Tombs, which give the Reader a Caution therein, whereof I have inserted two.

Fallax sæpe Fides, testataq; Vota peribunt;

Constitues Tumulum, si sapis, ipse tuum.

88Since Heirs are Faithless and your Wills neglect,

If ye are wise your own Tombs you’ll erect.

On others thus:

Certa Dies nulli, Mors certa, incerta sequentum:

Constitues Tumulum, si sapis, ipse tuum.

If Life’s uncertain, certain Death, and dubious what’s to come,

You would do well to secure all, by building your own Tomb.

That some Persons were better pleas’d to build their Tombs themselves, we read in 2 Chron. 16. 14. how King Asa was bury’d in his own Sepulchre, which he had made for himself in the City of David: And how Shebnah had taken care to have a Sepulchre hew’d for himself in Jerusalem. The same is also said of Joseph of Arimathæa, Matth. 27. 60. |Places of Sepulture.| The Places of Sepulture were of two kinds, Public and Private. The Public were likewise of two sorts, viz. Such as were allotted the Poor, and others that were us’d only by the Rich: |The Puticulæ.| The poor Servants, and such like mean Persons, were bury’d in Ditches or Graves call’d Puticulæ or Puticuli, and so nam’d, A Puteis fossis, vel quod Corpora ibi putrescerent. These were Holes in the Earth made like to Wells, between Mount Esquiline, the Walls of the City, and the Street which leads to the Gate Querquetulana; but these Wells infecting all the neighbouring parts of the City, Augustus for removing thereof, gave that Place to Mæcenas, who built a stately House, and made very fine Gardens there, as his Favourite Horace informs us. There were other public Places, in which 89those that had deserv’d well of the Common-Wealth had their Monuments, which were chiefly allow’d them as a Reward of their Virtues. As for the Roman Kings they were bury’d in the Campus Martius, |Campus Martius.| where the Mausolæum of Augustus stood, together with a vast number of antient Sepulchres and Monuments all along the River side.

Private.

Private Burying-Places were such as any one had in his own House, Garden or Fields: Thus we read Samuel was bury’d in his House at Ramah, Sam. 25. 1. and Joab in his House in the Wilderness, 1 Kings 2. 34. The antient Grecians were also bury’d in Places prepar’d for that purpose in their own Houses; and the Thebans had once a Law, that no Person should build a House without providing in it a Repository for the Dead; but this Custom was afterwards forbidden, as appears by that Passage in Isiodorus, Lib. 14. Orig. cap. 11. Prius autem quisq; in Domo sua sepeliebatur, postea vetitum est Legibus, ne fætore ipso Corpora Viventium contactu inficerentur. At first every one was bury’d in his own House, but afterwards it was forbidden by the Laws, lest the Living might thereby be infected. Tolosanus in Syntagm. Juris universal, Lib. 33. cap. 23. gives another Reason, Ne Licentia illa Sepeliendi familiares daret delinquendi & occisos occultandi Occasionem. Lest such a Liberty of Burying the Family, should give occasion of committing Murder and afterwards hiding it.

In Gardens.

Sometimes the Ancients bury’d in their Gardens, as we read Manasseth was interr’d in the Garden of his own House, in the Garden of Uzza, 2 Kings 21. 18. and Tacitus tells us Galba’s Body was bury’d by Argius his Steward, with little or no Ceremony, in his private Garden. We read also of a Sepulchre in the Garden 90made by Joseph of Arimathæa to lay our Saviour’s Body in, John 19. 41.

In Fields.

They likewise bury’d in Fields, and so the Patriarchs were said to be bury’d in a Cave in the Field of Machpelah, Gen. 23. 20. also ’tis related that Uzziah King of Judah slept with his Fathers, and was bury’d with them in the Field of Burial which pertain’d to the Kings, 2 Chron. 26. 23. Tho’ they term’d these two last Private, because they bury’d in Fields and Gardens belonging only to their own Families, yet, if it was possible, they always interr’d their Dead in that part of the Garden or Field which lay nearest the common Road or Highway, thereby to put Passengers in mind of their Mortality.

In Highways.

For this Reason they more frequently bury’d in the Highways and public Roads, that by seeing the Monuments of the Dead the Memory of them might not only be excited, but also the Living be encourag’d to imitate the Virtues of such Great Men as were represented on those stately Tombs, and likewise to admonish them, that what they were they should also be. This plainly appears by the Epitaphs and Inscriptions which always spoke to the Traveller after this manner:

SISTE VIATOR. ASPICE VIATOR. CAVE VIATOR, and the like.

In Mountains and Hills.

The Ancients likewise bury’d in Mountains and Hills. Joshua, Captain of the Hebrews, and Eleazar, Son of Aaron, were both bury’d in Mount Ephraim, Joshua 24. 30, 33. Judges 2. 9. and we read in 2 Kings 23. 16. that as Josiah turn’d himself, he spy’d the Sepulchres 91that were in the Mountain. Likewise the Grecians and Romans bury’d their Kings and Great Men either on the tops of Mountains, or at their feet, as Isiodorus, Lib. 15. Etimolog. cap. 11. observes. Thus Aventinus Sylvius, King of the Albans, was interr’d in the Hill that receiv’d its Name from him, as Titus Livius and Aurelius de Orig. Gent. Roman. testifie. Virgil reports the same thing of King Dercennus, Æn. 11. v. 850.

————Fuit ingens Monte sub alto,

Regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere Bustum.

A Tomb beneath a mighty Mount they rear’d

For King Dercennus.————

Hence likewise appears the Custom of raising a Mount over the Graves of great Persons, which Lucan Lib. 8. speaking of the Egyptians, has thus express’d:

Et Regum Cineres extructo Monte quiescunt.

Beneath a Mount their Monarchs Ashes rest.

So also Weever in his Funeral-Monuments, p. 6. observes, they were antiently wont to bury here in England either on ridges of Hills, or on spacious Plains fortify’d or fenc’d about with Obelisks, pointed Stones, Pyramids, Pillars, or such like Monuments. For Example, England’s Wonder on Salisbury-Plain call’d Stonehenge, the Sepulchre of so many Britains, who, by the Treachery of the Saxons, were slain there at a Parley: That of Wada the Saxon Duke near Whitby in Yorkshire, and those of Cartigerne the Britain, and Horsa the 92Saxon near Ailesford in Kent. It was a thing usual among our Saxon Ancestors (says Verstegan) as by Tacitus it also seems to have been among the other Germans, that the dead Bodies of such as were slain in the Field, and bury’d there, were not laid in Graves, but lying on the Ground were cover’d over with Turfs or Clods of Earth, |In Plains cover’d with Turfs, &c.| and the more Reputation they had had, the greater and higher were the Turfs rais’d over them. This some us’d to term Byriging, others Beorging, and some Buriging, which we now call Berying or Burying, which is properly a shrouding or hiding the dead Body in the Earth. Of these kinds of Funeral-Monuments you have many on Salisbury-Plain, out of which the Bones of Bodies thus inhum’d have oftentimes been dug. These Places the Inhabitants thereabouts call Beries, Baroes or Burroughs, which agrees with the words Byrighs, Beorghs or Burghs spoken in the same Sence. From hence the Names of divers Towns and Cities were originally deriv’d; Places first so call’d having been with Walls of Turf or Clods of Earth, fenc’d about for Men to shroud themselves in, as in Forts or Castles: Thus far Weever. We shall next take notice that the Romans antiently made their Graves of Turf, which they call’d Injectio Glebæ, and for the same Reason the Latin word Tumulus, which in its proper Sense imports no more than a Hillock, came afterwards to signifie a Grave or Tomb. These were compos’d of two parts, one the Grave or Tomb, and the other the Ground surrounding them, fenc’d about with Pales, Walls, or the like. Here we may observe that most of the Ancients Burials were without their Town and Cities, either for fear the Air might be corrupted thro the stench of Putrefy’d Bodies, 93or the Buildings endanger’d by the frequency of Funeral-Fires; wherefore they made choice of more convenient Places for their Interments in the Suburbs or Country, such as Mountains, Hills, Woods, Fields or Highways, which were barren Places; for as Plato, Lib. 12. De Leg. says, No Sepulchre was to be made in a fertile Soil or fruitful Field, but that Place was only to be us’d which was steril and good for nothing else.

Now tho’ it was forbidden both by the Greek and Roman Laws, |Burial in the City.| to bury within the Walls of Cities, yet was there nevertheless a Reserve made for some particular Persons, such as Emperors, Vestal-Virgins, and those that had merited Favour by some extraordinary Action or Virtue. It seem’d likewise an Honour due to Lawyers, that they who had kept the Citizens in a healthful Concord whilst alive, might when dead remain in the midst of them. Likewise we often read of Monuments erected in the Forum or middle of the City, but that we must look on as a Favour chiefly bestow’d on Men of Worth, and public Benefactors; nay, sometimes Persons of a more than ordinary Desert and Excellency were permitted to be bury’d in the Temples of the Gods; and some are of Opinion, such Honours paid the Dead were the first Causes of erecting Temples; see Arnobius, Lib. 6. advers. Gentes, and Isiodorus, Lib. 15. Origin. cap. 11. Nor are later Times wholly destitute of such Examples. We read moreover in the Holy Scripture, that Persons of eminent Ranks and Quality were bury’d in the City. So David was bury’d in the City call’d after his own Name, where also Solomon, Abijam, Asa, Jehosaphat, Joram, Ahaziab, Jehoash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jothan, 94Ahaz, Rehoboam, Jehoiada and Joash were bury’d, 1 Kings 2. 10. 11. 43. 15. 8, 24. 22. 50. 2 Kings 8. 24. 9. 28. 12. 21. 14. 20. 15. 7, 38. 16. 20. 2 Chron. 12. 16. 16. 14. 24. 16, 25. 27. 9. Ahab, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and the Kings of Israel were interr’d in the City of Samaria, and Amaziah in the City of Judah, 1 Kings 22. 27. 2 Kings 10. 35. 13. 9. 14. 16. 2 Chron. 25. 28. with abundance of other Instances, too many to be related here: Besides it has long been the Custom of most modern Nations to bury in their Cities and Churches their Kings, Princes, Nobles, Gentry, Poets, and Men of the greatest Parts and Merit. The Emperors and Arch-Dukes of Austria are bury’d at Vienna, the Kings of England in Westminster-Abbey, the Kings of France in the Monastery of St. Dennis, the Kings of Sueden at Stockholm, the Kings of Poland at Cracow, the Electors of Saxony at Fridberg, the Counts Palatine of the Rhine at Heydelberg, and the like, whereof see more Examples in Quenstedt, p. 205. and Weever, p. 8. but more especially in Panvinus de Rit. Sepeliendi, who gives a whole Catalogue of such Kings, Princes and Priests as have been bury’d in Churches. But to proceed to speak of the Nature and Distinction of such Places of Sepulture as the Ancients us’d, whether within or without the City, they were distinguish’d into Proper and Common, Family and Hereditary Burial-Places or Sepulchres.

Proper Sepulchres.

Proper Sepulchres were such particular Places as any one reserv’d for himself, where none had ever been laid before, and from whence he could by his Will exclude any of his Heirs. To this purpose they inscrib’d on their Tombs these Letters: H. M. H. N. S. that is, Hoc Monumentum Heredes non sequitur. Or 95these, H. M. ad H. N. TRANS. Hoc Monumentum ad Heredes non transit. Which Inscriptions are still to be met with in abundance of Places, and shew the Heir has no Right or Claim to Burial there.

Common Sepulchres.

Common Sepulchres were such as the Puticulæ for the poorer Sort, the Campus Martius for Men of Quality, Honour or Merit, the Ceramnicus for such as were slain in War, and other the like Places to bury Strangers in, call’d Poluandria. So we read the chief Priests of the Jews bought the Potters Field for this Purpose, with Thirty pieces of Silver, which Judas had taken to betray Christ, Matth. 27. 7.

Family-Sepulchres.

Family-Sepulchres were such as were only common to Heirs and Posterity, who had a right to be bury’d therein: Some again were only for the Husband and Wife, having this Inscription, Sibi & Conjugi; others for the Children likewise, inscrib’d Sibi, Conjugi & Liberis.

Hereditary-Sepulchres.

Hereditary-Sepulchres were such as the Testator appointed for himself and his Heirs, or acquir’d by Right of Inheritance. These sometimes belong’d to the whole Family, as to Children and Relations: Now for the better understanding how these Sepulchres were made, which were capable of holding such a number of Persons, we must observe they were certain Caves, Grots or Vaults dug under Ground, and divided into several Partitions, in which each Body being put up in a Coffin of Stone, Lead, Wood, &c. these Coffins were laid each in its own Apartment; for such Burial-Places were wont to have as many Divisions as they design’d Persons to be bury’d in them: Thus some became unlimited, possessing several Miles of Ground; such were the Cryptæ Kiovienses, which 96Herbinius has wrote a Book of, and the Catacombs of Rome and Naples, of which you have an exact Account in Bosio’s Roma Subterranea, and Bishop Burnet’s Travels. The Greeks call’d such a Burial-Place, ὙΠΌΓΕΙΟΝ, ὑπὸ τὴν γῆν, sub Terra, Hypogeum, and the Latins Crypta, deriving the Word from the Greek κρύπτη, a κρύπτω, abdo; quia abdita est. These serving not only for Sepultures to the Primitive Christians, but during the Time of Persecution, for hiding Places, where they held Synods and administred the Sacraments, as Panvinus in Lib. De Cæmiteriis, cap. 11 relates. These Subterranean Caves were at first dug only out of the Earth, but afterwards they were hew’d out of solid Rocks, or else curiously wrought and pay’d with Stone, being arch’d above, and adorn’d with no less Art and Care than the Houses of the Living; insomuch that it was customary to place Lamps in these Subterranean-Vaults, whither such Mourners as had a mind to express an extraordinary Concern for the Deceas’d, retir’d, cloistering themselves up for many Days and Nights, whereof we have an Example in Petronius’s Story of the Ephesian Matron. Thus the Egyptians and Persians bury’d in Caves dug out of solid Rocks, or at the bottoms of such stony Mountains, as Diodorus Siculus and other Writers inform us. There was also at Nismes in Languedoc a Crypta found, with a rich inlaid Pavement and Niches round about the Wall, in each of which gilded Glass-Urns full of Ashes were set in order. The Jews likewise hew’d their Sepulchres out of Rocks, into which they descended thro’ a narrow Passage, which was shut up with a Stone, as appears by that of Lazarus, John 11. 38. and that of Joseph of Arimathæa, 97wherein our Saviour’s Body was laid, Matth. 27. 60.

Cenotaphs.

Thus far we have treated of Sepulchres properly so call’d, now we will speak of such as were erected to preserve the Memories of those that were bury’d else-where, whence they came to be call’d ΚΕΝΟΤΆΦΙΟΝ, i. e. κενὸς τάφος, inanis Tumulus, Tumulus sine Corpore, a Sepulchre rais’d in Honour of some Person, and wherein his Body had never been laid. Of these there were two sorts, one erected to such as had been honour’d with Funeral-Rites in another Place, and the other for those who had never obtain’d any. First, They built these Sepulchres for Religions sake, by reason they thought the Souls of those that had been depriv’d of the Rites and Honours of Sepulture wander’d about, and could never pass the Stygian Lake: See page 21. Secondly, They esteem’d it the next Felicity to Sepulture to lye in their own Country, wherefore when any one died in a forreign Land, they thrice invok’d his Ghost or Soul, which thereby, as they thought, speedily hastening to them, they erected a Tomb or Monument for it. This without doubt afforded no small Joy and Comfort, by reason they believ’d in doing thus, their Bodies were driven under Ground to their own Country, and the Jews even at this Day believe, that immediately after their Deaths their Souls pass into the Land of Canaan. Nicolaius, Lib. De Luctu Græcorum, p. 17. It was also customary, among the nearest Friends and Relations, to build various Tombs for one and the same Person, and that in various Places, which they did to do the Deceas’d the more Honour, as Dionysius Halicarnasseus, Lib. 1. Antiqu. Roman. observes. We may also gather from Prudentius, Lib. περί στεφάνων that the Christians 98built Cenotaphs in Honour of their Martyrs, and Gretserius de Funer. Christi, Lib. 3. cap. 6. says, they were erected in Commemoration of the Deceas’d. Hence may be likewise gather’d the Use and Benefit of Tombs, |Use and Benefit of Tombs.| as First, That they were erected in Honour to the Deceas’d. Secondly, Often Built at the public Cost, as a Reward to Virtue and Valour. And, Lastly, they were moreover thought to be a Comfort to the Living; for as Theodoric gravely said, Bodies bury’d in Coffins and Tombs were esteem’d no small Consolation to Mourners, inasmuch as the Souls of the Deceas’d departed only from the Conversation of the World, whereas their Bodies did not for some time leave their surviving Friends: If therefore such Things could afford so great satisfaction to the Living, how much more would it delight them to see the Bodies of their dead Ancestors, with a long Lineage of their Family, so perfect as to distinguish their Persons and Sex by the preserv’d Features, and this without any offensive Smell or deform’d Aspect, as we are well assur’d both the Egyptians and the Inhabitants of Teneriff us’d to do, which is not even impossible to perform at this Day? The Ancients were so exceedingly carefull of every particular Ceremony in Funeral-Rites, that they made it the chief Point of their Religion to perform them, as an indispensible Duty their Gods requir’d of them, and their Laws strictly maintain’d; so that to neglect them was the greatest Cruelty, and to violate them a capital Crime and Sacriledge. They added every thing to their Sepulchres that could make them Sacred, Honourable and Respected, or which could transmit their Names to Posterity, their Fame to Eternity, and their Ashes to Perpetual Repose.

How adorn’d and with what Inscriptions.

99Besides, they were wont to carve thereon the Arms, Trophies, Coat-Armour and Effigies of the Deceas’d, subjoining moreover such Elogiums and Inscriptions as best express’d their Family, Virtues, Studies, Emploiments, Works or noble Actions; their Condition of Life, Age, Time and Cause of Death, and in a Word, whatever else was Remarkable in them and worthy Commemoration. |How call’d.| These Structures for the Dead were call’d after several Names, from the several Uses they were put to when erected; for some contain’d whole Bodies, others their Ashes only, and some neither one nor the other, being only built to transmit the Memory of the Party deceas’d to succeeding Ages, whence they were call’d Cenotaphs. |Cenotaphs. Sepulchres.| Sepulchres were so nam’d a Sepeliendo, which signifies committing to the Ground, laying up therein, or hiding or covering with Earth, whence burying came to be call’d Sepulture, and Burial-Places Sepulchres. Scipio Gentilis, Lib. Origin. Sing. says, Monumentum quasi Munimentum dicitur, quod Causa Muniendi ejus Loci factum est. Monuments were sometimes very fitly call’d Muniments, |Muniments.| by reason they fenc’d in and defended the Corps from being torn out of its Grave by Savage Beasts, and likewise preserv’d the same from all farther Violation. They were call’d Tumuli, |Tombs.| quod coacervata ibi Terra tumeat, because Turf or Earth was wont to be heap’d over them, which the higher it was the more Honourable; but these being easily scratch’d up by Hyena’s, Wolves, and the like voracious Animals, and because the Ancients bury’d at first far out of Cities, in the Highways, Woods, Hills and Mountains, thence says Servius on Æneid. 11. Factum est aut Pyramides fierent, aut ingentes collocarentur Columnæ. They erected either Pyramids or Columns 100over their Graves. |Memories,| They were also call’d Memories, a Memoria, and Monuments, |Monuments.| a monendo, quia monebant Mentem, because as St. Austin says, Lib. De Cura pro Mortuis, we are by them put in Mind and warn’d to consider our frail Condition, they being external Helps to excite and stir up our inward Thoughts, to have the remembrance of Death before our Eyes, that our deceas’d Brethren may not be out of our Minds, tho’ they are out of our sight. Much the same Etymology of a Monument Varro gives, Lib. 5. De Lingua Latina, and Weever of Funeral-Monuments, p. 9. has collected such another out of a Manuscript in the Cotton Library, entitul’d, The Register of Gray-Friars in London.

Dormitories.

The Christians us’d to call Sepulchres Dormitories or Sleeping Places, where the Bodies of the Faithful rested in their Graves as in their Beds, vide p. 17. The Pagans also gave them the like Synonymous Names, such as Quietorium, Requietorium, &c. |Resting-Places.| Scilicet ubi quiescant condita Corpora. Places of Rest and Quiet for the Dead. |Seats.| They were likewise antiently call’d Seats, as appears by this old Inscription, Hanc Sedem sibi Vivi posuerunt, and that of Virgil in his 6th Æneid.

————Quam Sedibus Ossa quierunt.

How they their Bones in quiet Seats do rest!