Mr. _Samuel Sault_

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_The Explanation of the_ Frontispiece.

Reader thou in this _Frontispiece_ may’st see

How _mortal Man_ seeks _Immortalitie_;

His beauteous _Frame_ he sees with speed decline,

And soon dissolv’d by _Death_, tho’ form’d by _Hands Divine_.

_Sadness_ in Widows Robes deplores his _State_,

While the _Young Brood_ inspect the _Book of Fate_;

Pensive they view the _Rise_ and _Fall_ of _Man_,

With Tears survey his Transitory _Span_.

But his great _Soul_, full of Cœlestial _Flame_,

Disdaining _Death_, strives to extend his _Name_;

And conscious of our too too fickle _State_,

Would fain elude the Force of _Time_ and _Fate_:

The narrow Boundaries of _Life_ would pass,

By _Statues_, _Pillars_, Monumental _Brass_,

Aspiring _Pyramids_, that lift on high

Their spiral Heads to reach his kindred Skie,

Which in their dark _Repositories_ keep

The _Bodies_ safe in their _Immortal Sleep_;

While healing _Balm_ and _Aromatic Spice_,

_Death_’s odious _Dissipation_ to their _Form_ denies.

_Death_ baffl’d thus by wise _Chyrurgic Art_,

Wounds _Mortals_ there but with a blunted Dart;

And half the Terror of the _Griesly Fiend_

Is lost, when _Mortal Bodies_ know no end.

The _Bodies_ thus _Preserv’d_, the thinking Part

_Men_ strive to keep alive by various _Art_,

And fine wrought _Medals_ and _Inscriptions_ use,

But above all the _bright recording Muse_;

Thro’ _Time_’s revolving Tide the faithful _Page_

Conveys their earliest _Rise_ to the remotest _Age_,

While _Death_ and _Time_ oppose their _Force_ in vain,

Superior _Men_ above their _Force_ remain;

_Temples_ and _Fanes_ they to the _Godhead_ raise,

To bribe the only _Power_, that _can_ destroy, with Praise.

_Jove_ pleas’d, in Pity of the pious _Race_,

Two _Messengers_ sends down the Airy space,

To raise _Man_’s _Ashes_ from the silent Urn,

Which touch’d by _Hermes_ wand resume their pristine Form.

_Jove_’s _Royal Bird_ attends to bear on high

Th’ _Immortal Soul_ up to its Native _Skie_,

While _Fame_ aloud her Silver Trumpet sounds,

And with the _Lawrel Wreath_ the _Victor_ Crowns.

And thus _Eternal_ lives the _deathless Mind_,

Which, here on _Earth_, no setled _State_ could find.

[Illustration: _T. Murray pinx._

_Thomas Greenhill_ Chirurgus.

HONOR ALIT ARTES

_Quo_ Fata trahunt retrahuntqꝫ sequamur.

_P. Berchet delin^t._ _Nutting sculpsit. 1705._ ]

ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑ:

OR, THE

Art of Embalming;

Wherein is shewn

The Right of Burial,

THE

FUNERAL CEREMONIES,

And the several Ways of

Preserving Dead Bodies

IN

Most Nations of the WORLD.

With an Account of

The particular Opinions, Experiments and Inventions of modern

Physicians, Surgeons, Chymists and Anatomists.

ALSO

Some new Matter propos’d concerning a better Method of _Embalming_ than

hath hitherto been discover’d.

AND

A _Pharmacopœia Galeno-Chymica, Anatomia sicca sive incruenta_, &c.

In Three PARTS.

_The whole Work adorn’d with variety of Sculptures._

_By_ THOMAS GREENHILL, _Surgeon_.

_LONDON_: Printed for the Author.

ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑ:

OR, THE

Art of Embalming;

Wherein is shewn

The Right of Burial,

AND

FUNERAL CEREMONIES,

Especially that of

Preserving Bodies

After the _EGYPTIAN_ Method.

TOGETHER WITH

An Account of the _Egyptian_ Mummies, Pyramids, Subterranean Vaults and

Lamps, and their Opinion of the _Metempsychosis_, the Cause of their

_Embalming_.

AS ALSO

A Geographical Description of _Egypt_, the Rise and Course of the

_Nile_, the Temper, Constitution and Physic of the Inhabitants,

their Inventions, Arts, Sciences, Stupendous Works and Sepulchres,

and other curious Observations any ways relating to the Physiology

and Knowledge of this _Art_.

PART I.

_Illustrated with a Map and Fourteen Sculptures._

_By_ THOMAS GREENHILL, _Surgeon_.

_LONDON_: Printed for the Author, M DCC V.

CONTENTS

To the Right Honourable THOMAS Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery

THE PREFACE.

A List of such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have been pleas’d to Encourage

this Work with Sculptures.

A List of such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have been pleas’d to Encourage

this Work by Subscriptions.

Amico admodum colendo D. THOMÆ GREENHILL eximiam suam ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑΝ

edenti χαίρειν καὶ εὐπραγεῖν.

Viro Admodùm Erudito Thomæ Greenhill, Chirurgo in ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑΝ, sive

Artem Pollincturæ, ab illo editam.

TO HIS Ingenious Friend Mr. Thomas Greenhill.

To his Friend the Author.

ERRATA.

LETTER I.

LETTER II.

LETTER III.

A CATALOGUE OF Authors quoted in this Book.

THE TABLE

------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the Right Honourable

THOMAS

Earl of _Pembroke_ and _Montgomery_; Baron _Herbert_ of _Caerdiff_;

Lord _Rosse_, _Par_, _Marmion_, St. _Quintin_ and _Shurland_; Lord

Lieutenant of the County of _Wilts_ and _South-Wales_; Knight of

the most Noble Order of the Garter, and President of Her Majesties

most Honourable Privy Council.

_My Lord_,

I count it no small Happiness, in an Age so Censorious as this, to have

found a Patron so universally admir’d, that I am under no apprehension

of being thought a Flatterer, should I make use of and indulge all the

Liberty of a profest Panegyrist; but that is what a sense of my own

Inability and Your Lordship’s Modesty forbids: It is sufficient for me,

that, under Your Lordship’s known Learning in Antiquity and History,

both Antient and Modern, my weak Endeavours at restoring a _lost

Science_ may be secure from the Assaults of the _Envious_ or the

_Ignorant_.

I have nothing to fear from the Animosities of Parties, since how

inveterate soever they may be against each other, yet they all agree in

this one Point, to Esteem and Honour Your Lordship, who are the

_Atticus_ of the Times, by Your Virtues endear’d to all sides, and each

believing that not to Value Your Lordship, would be to discover such an

aversion to Honour and Virtue as the worst of Men would abhor.

Your Virtues, my Lord, are so conspicuous, that they give you that

Natural and Rational Right to true Nobility, which the _Roman_ Satyrist

so justly exprest:

——_Nobilitas sola est atq; unica Virtus._

I will not dispute whether or no there be any Intrinsic Value in a long

Descent, or whether that be deriv’d from the necessity of a

Subordination essential to Government, or else from the just Reward of

Virtue, which ennobles all the Posterity of the Possessors of it, it

being here a very useless Disquisition since Your Lordship’s Family is

of so very high an Original that none can boast a greater Antiquity, and

that Your Lordship is possest of all that Merit which first

distinguish’d Man from Man, and gave a Preeminence to the Deserving.

Among all the Excellencies which thus dignifie Your Lordship’s

Character, perhaps there is none more eminent than Your Protection and

Encouragement of Arts and Sciences, to which the _English_ World owe the

incomparable Mr. _Lock_’s _Essays on Human Understanding_, and other

Works extreamly beneficial to the Public. Neither do I in the least

question but Your Lordship’s Protection of so excellent and useful an

_Art_ as _Surgery_, will render it as flourishing here in _England_ as

it is in any other part of the World. ’Tis true we are not wanting of

some extraordinary Professors of that _Art_, but I could also heartily

wish we had not a greater number of Bad, and yet perhaps the chief

occasion of this may be the want of a due Method of Encouragement, by

which the modest Endeavours of young Proficients are eclips’d, and which

(to make a Comparison) like tender Plants, are nipp’d in the Bud and

perish for want of Watering.

Now as the want of Opportunity has been in some respect a prejudice to

my Business, so also the want of Encouragement has in a great measure

been a hindrance to this Work: For what regret of Mind must it needs

occasion, to find none esteem’d but such as speak Experience in their

Looks, and that Youth should be despis’d tho’ never so hopeful and

industrious, meerly because of a particular number of Years, and what an

interruption must it be to our painful Studies, to think that even the

best Performances of this kind are contemn’d because they are chiefly a

Collection, when on the contrary it is receiv’d as an establish’d Maxim,

that such as Travel into Foreign Countries, are not only the most

capable to describe them, but also whatsoever they relate is look’d upon

as the sole matter of Fact and Truth, when many times Business is better

transacted by Correspondence, and those that have been at the trouble,

expence and danger of Travelling have come home no more improv’d than

they went out, except in the Fashions and Levities of the Age, yet are

we commonly so imprudent as to value Things meerly for their coming from

a far and at a great deal of Expence; but whilst we admire those

Novelties, we are often misled and deceiv’d by meer Fables and imaginary

Stories of such Things as neither are, nor ever have been.

This I speak not in prejudice to Travelling it self, which, if rightly

understood, is certainly the greatest Improvement in the World, and I

could heartily wish I had had the opportunity of its Advantage, but on

the contrary I do it chiefly to show that it is not impossible to give a

tolerable, if not the best Account of the Ancients without it; for what

can any one, who now travels into _Egypt_, learn or see but such a

ruin’d Country, that the very Place is hardly known where those

wonderful Cities _Thebes_ and _Memphis_ stood, except what is

Traditional or extracted from the Writings of the Ancients. ’Tis true,

the learn’d and accurate Mr. _Greaves_ has given us the best Description

of the _Pyramids_, but then this was both because they are at this Day

in being, and to be view’d by Travellers, as also that he carry’d along

with him the best contriv’d Instruments for taking their exact Altitudes

and Dimensions, which few besides that see them trouble themselves with,

but are content to say, they have seen them; nevertheless _Greaves_ can

neither give us the Names of the right Founders of them, nor any

certainty whether there were perpetual _burning Lamps_ in them, or a

_Colossus_ or _Statue_ on the top of the bigger _Pyramid_, or, in a

word, by whom and to what end the monstrous Figure of the _Sphinx_ was

built.

But however the aforesaid Reflections are not the only Discouragements

to Industry and Study; to see our Profession over-run by _Quacks_ and

_Mountebanks_, and that _Valet de Chambres_ are suffer’d to Bleed, dress

Wounds, cut Fontanells, and perform the like Operations, is what has

reduc’d _Surgery_ to so low an ebb. In like manner the noble _Art of

Embalming_ has been intirely ruin’d by the _Undertakers_, as also the

_Court of Honour_ much prejudic’d, of which Your Lordship has been twice

Supreme Judge; from whence it is the _Balsamic Art_ is now-a-days look’d

upon as a very insignificant Thing, and not a little despis’d, whereas

the Knowledge and Practise of that _Art_ is both useful in Natural

_Phylosophy_, _Physiology_, _Physic_, _Surgery_ and _Anatomy_, as I hope

I have fully prov’d in the body of my Book, over and above that the

History thereof leads us into the first and best Antiquities of the

World. Your Lordship therefore being both a great Admirer and Encourager

of Things of this nature, I hope, thro’ Your generous Protection, not

only to secure my self against the contempt of all Critics, but also to

be enabl’d to continue and complete my intended Work, and this has also

been one Reason why I have thus vindicated _Surgery_, the _Art of

Embalming_ and my own _Collection_; in which, altho’ I am not thoroughly

satisfy’d that there is any thing worthy Your Lordship’s perusal, yet

this I am sure of, that Your Candour will appear the greater, by

condescending to accept my mean Performance.

And here, my Lord, I have the temptation to loose my self in the Field

of Your Praises, but that I know both my Patron and my self too well to

indulge the agreeable Contemplation. Were Your Lordship like common

Patrons, I should do like common Dedicators, speak of the admirable

Temperance of Your Life, Your Moderation, the Wonders of Your Conduct

when You were _Lord High Admiral_, which Office was Administer’d by Your

Lordship to the Universal Content and Satisfaction, both of the

Merchant, the Officers and Sailers; Your Lordship’s Prudence, Judgment

and Sincerity in Your high Post of _President_ of Her Majesties most

Honourable Privy Council: And I might extend my Considerations even to

the great Happiness such a Person must possess, who is so generally

valu’d and esteem’d both by his Queen and Country; but what is so well

known I shall leave as wanting not the help of any Panegyric to make it

more evident, and content my self with the Honour and Satisfaction of

being permitted to Subscribe my self, _My Lord_,

_Your Lordship’s most Humble

And most Obedient Servant_,

Thomas Greenhill.

THE

PREFACE.

_It is not only the Authority of King_ Solomon, _the greatest, richest

and wisest of Men, that convinces us_ There is nothing new under the

Sun, _but also common Observation daily shews us the Truth hereof; for

whether we respect Kingdoms and Monarchies, Cities or Villages, with

their Civil, Military and Rural Transactions; whether we consider the

Ambition of Kings and Princes, or the Captivity and Subjection of the

Common People; or if we look into the various Sects, Religions, Habits,

Customs, Manners, Arts and Sciences that are in the World, we shall in

all things find we are but Imitators of our Fore-Fathers, and tread only

in their Footsteps_.

_The same Thing is acted to Day which was done a Thousand Years ago, and

this, after a Vicissitude of fantastic Alterations, will in another

Century come into Fashion again; so that we move like the Cœlestial

Orbs, in the same Circumvolutions, and our whole Life is but_

Actum agere, & _Penelopes_ telam retexere.

_It is the same with Books and Writings; for tho’ public Advertisements

do daily inform us, that some Work or other is continually on the

Stocks, yet is it but the same Story inculcated over again, in another

Language, different Volume, larger Print, additional Sculptures, and

some new Alterations; or else it is but a Translation, with Annotations,

Comments, and a Table annex’d, which serve for new Amusements and the

Maintenance of the Booksellers. Others which bear a greater Repute in

the World, as being penn’d by the more Learned and Ingenious Persons, in

a very Concise and Elegant Stile, are generally nothing but some new

fine-spun_ Virtuosi _Suggestions, extracted from an almost forgotten and

out-of-fashion_ Hypothesis, _and each Improvement in Modern Arts, has

undoubtedly ow’d its Original to somewhat hinted to us by the Ancients_.

_All this I freely acknowledge to be my own Case, with this difference

only, that I know my self deficient in that solid Learning and admirable

Stile they were wont to use; yet for your encouragement to peruse this

Treatise, I can assure you, you shall hardly find any other Book which

so generally, particularly and completely handles this Subject: Besides,

I can justly aver that I devis’d and compil’d the greatest part thereof

before I met with any Author that gave me so much Satisfaction as I have

since had; and notwithstanding my Notions were in a great measure

agreeable to theirs, tho’ unknown to me, yet will I modestly submit and

attribute the Invention thereof to them_, First, _As being my Seniors,

and who Wrote before me, and_, Secondly, _as infinitely the more Learn’d

and better Qualify’d Writers. Nor does this Submission detract the least

from my Labour, it having been to me the same thing as a_ lost Art: _And

I would gladly be inform’d, by any one at this Day, of the true Method

of the antient_ Egyptian Embalming; _nay, would be content only to know

the more Modern, tho’ more excellent Way, that of_ Bilsius.

_We must therefore grant that the Ancients knew many Things, which in

process of Time, either thro’ Fire, Inundations, hostile Invasions, or

other Accidents and Devastations, have intirely perish’d, and still

remain so, as_ Pancirollus _fully shews; or if we have any superficial

Knowledge of them, as is somewhat apparent from our Modern Architecture,

Sculpture, Painting_, &c. _yet are we even at this present so vastly

deficient in the very best of our Imitations, that none have ever

hitherto arriv’d to any tolerable Perfection; nevertheless should any

one so perfectly apply himself to the Study of one of those_ lost Arts,

_as to make a new Discovery therein, I hope you would allow him the same

Praise as if he had been the first Inventor; and, for my part, however I

should fail in answering your Expectation, of what is seemingly promis’d

in the_ Title-Page; _yet, thus far I am pretty sure, that I have given

more light into the Matter, than has been done by any of those imperfect

Accounts of_ Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, _&c. And tho’ some Things that

I say may seem to want Authority, yet for the most part, should I have

made all the Quotations I could have brought to prove my Assertions, it

would have extended this Volume to a much larger size than I intended;

wherefore I have in a great measure designedly omitted them, to the end

I might avoid Prolixity as much as possible, and in other places I have

us’d their Words expresly as my own, not to detract from them, but to be

more concise, and have in several places not mention’d their Names, for

the aforesaid Reasons: So I do here, once for all, with submission,

Apologize for my self, that the censorious World may not repute me an

ungrateful_ Plagiary.

_I acknowledge therefore this my Labour, in one respect to be a

Collection, in all to be still deficient of that Perfection which so

noble an_ Art _deserves; yet in some Things I have improv’d it, and in

others apply’d it to those Uses which have scarce before been thought

of. But all the Satisfaction I have herein, is to think that I have

perform’d my Duty, in exerting my small Talent, with the utmost Care and

Diligence, for the Benefit of our_ Company; _and if my Work does not

perform what is intended and desir’d, it will nevertheless be Useful,

Pleasant, and serve to Divert you, which_ Horace _says is the Perfection

and Chief end of all Writing_:

Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit Utile Dulci.

A List of such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have been pleas’d to Encourage

this Work with Sculptures.

His Grace _Wriothesly_ Duke of _Bedford_

The Honourable _James Saunderson_, Esq;

_Nathaniel Long_, Esq;

Mr. _James Pettiver_, Apothecary, F. R. S.

_Charles Bernard_, Esq; Serjeant Surgeon

_John Lawson_, M. D.

_Hans Sloane_, M. D.

_William Gibbons_, M. D.

Mr. _Francis Moult_, Chymist

His Grace _Thomas_ Lord Arch-Bishop of _Canterbury_

_John Thorpe_, A. M.

Mr. _Joseph Whiston_, Druggist

_Robert Nelson_, Esq;

Mr. _George Rolfe_, Surgeon

A List of such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have been pleas’d to Encourage

this Work by Subscriptions.

A.

Mr. _Benjamin Adams_

_John Allen_, Esq;

Mr. _Richard Alsop_

Mr. _Thomas Ashly_

_William Ashmole_, M. D.

_Philip Ayres_, Esq;

B.

Mr. _William Bacon_, Surgeon

_William Baddiford_, M. D.

_Nicholas Battersby_, Esq;

Mr. _Nicholas Batt_

Mr. _Robert Baylies_

_Wriothesly_ Duke of _Bedford_

Mr. _William Bedford_

_Charles Bernard_, Esq; Serj. Surg.

Mr. _Henry Bernard_, Apothecary

Mrs. _Jane Bernard_

Dr. _William Benson_

_Joseph Birch_, M. B.

Mr. _John Blomfield_

Mr. _James Booth_, Surgeon

Mr. _John Bound_

Mr. _John Bornhold_

_George Bramston_, L. L. D. Master of _Trinity-Hall_ in _Cambridge_.

_Samuel Brewster_, Esq;

Mr. _George Brewster_

_William Bridge_, M. D.

Mr. _Samuel Bridge_, for 6 Books

Mr. _Jeremiah Bright_

Mr. _Thomas Briscoe_

Mr. _Barton Bromly_

_Humphry Brooks_, M. D.

_John Brown_, Esq;

_Thomas Brown_, M. D.

Mr. _Richard Brown_

Mr. _Albert Bryan_

Mr. _Richard Bull_, Druggist

_Richard Butler_, Esq;

Mr. _John Byard_, Surgeon

Mr. _Christopher Byland_

Mr. _Francis Bythel_

C.

_Thomas_ Lord Arch-Bishop of _Canterbury_, for 3.

Mr. _Thomas Cawthorpe_, Apoth.

Mr. _John Chamberlain_

Mr. _Lawrence de la Chambre_

_Thomas Chambers_, Esq;

_Hans Peter Charriere_, M. D.

Mr. _Thomas Child_, for 3.

Mr. _Thomas Cholmley_

Mr. _John Chrichloe_

The Right Honourable the Earl of _Clarendon_

Mr. _Joseph Clench_, Apothecary

_William Cockburn_, M. D.

_William Cole_, M. D.

Mr. _William Cole_, Surgeon

Mr. _George Collinson_

Mr. _Andrew Cooper_, Surgeon

Sir _Godfry Copley_

_Thomas Cotton_, Esq;

Mr. _William Cowper_, Surgeon

Mr. _Brian Cozens_

Monsieur _Le Croix_, Surgeon to the Sick and Wounded of _Kingsale_ in

_Ireland_

D.

Sir _William Dawes_, Bar^t. D. D.

Mr. _Philip Dewert_

Mrs. _Elizabeth Dillingham_

Mr. _Francis Douce_, Surgeon

Capt. _Joseph Drake_, Clerk of the Admiralty

_James Drake_, M. D.

Mr. _Charles Draper_

Mr. _Samuel Dudly_

E.

_Henry Edmunds_, M. A.

The Reverend _Charles Elstob_, D. D.

_Anthony Erby_, Esq;

F.

Dr. _William Forward_

Sir _Andrew Fountain_

G.

_Samuel Garth_, M. D. for 4.

Mr. _Christopher Gately_, Apoth.

Mr. _Robert Gay_, Surgeon

Mr. _Alexander Geekie_, Surgeon

_William Gibbons_, M. D.

The Reverend _Edmund Gibson_, D. D.

Mr. _Charles Gildon_

Mr. _Francis Glascock_

Mr. _Thomas Granger_

Mr. _Edward Green_ }

Mr. _Joseph Green_ } Surgeons

Mr. _John Green_ }

_William Greenhill_, Esq; for 3.

Mr. _John Greenhill_

Mr. _William Grigson_

Mr. _William Grimes_

H.

The Right Honourable the Lord _Halifax_

Mr. _Stephen Hall_, Surgeon

The Reverend _William Hanbury_, M. A.

_John Hare_, Esq;

Mr. _Charles Hargrave_

Mr. _Charles Harman_

Mr. _John Harris_

_John Harrison_, Esq;

Mr. _John Hartley_

Mr. _Richard Harvey_, Surgeon

Mr. _Joshua Hatfield_

The Honourable _Charles Hatton_, Esq;

Mr. _Henry Hazzard_

_George Hepburn_, M. D.

Mr. _John Hesket_

_Thomas Hesket_, A. M.

_Thomas Hewett_, M. A. and Fellow of _Clare-Hall_ in _Cambridge_

The Reverend _George Hicks_, D. D.

Mr. _Bevill Higgons_

Mr. _Thomas Hill_

Mr. _John Hill_, Apothecary

Mr. _George Hinckster_, Surgeon

Mr. _George Hockenhull_

Mr. _Thomas Hodgson_

_Henry Hoghton_, Esq;

_Philip Horneck_, L. L. B.

Mr. _Benjamin Howell_

Mr. _Hungerford Hoskins_

J.

Mr. _Stephen Jermyn_

K.

Mr. _William Keith_

Mr. _John Kersey_, Sen.

Capt. _John Kerton_

Capt. _John Key_

Mr. _Thomas King_, Apothecary

L.

Mrs. _Catharine Lacy_

Mr. _Samuel Lane_, Apothecary

_John Lawson_, M. D.

_Nathaniel Long_, Esq;

Mr. _Josias Long_

Mr. _Mordecai Lyde_, Surgeon

M.

Mr. _John Mackie_, Surgeon

Mr. _John Magill_, Surgeon

Sir _George Markham_, Baronet

Mr. _Samuel Marwood_

Mr. _Nathaniel Mezy_, Apoth.

Dr. _Richard Middleton Massey_

Mr. _Charles Mathar_

Mr. _Charles Midgley_, Chymist

Mr. _John Mills_, Surgeon

Dr. _More_, Lord Bishop of _Norwich_

Mr. _Peter Motteux_

Mr. _George Moult_, Chymist

Mr. _Francis Moult_, Chymist

Mr. _Thomas Murray_

N.

_Robert Nelson_, Esq;

Dr. _William Nicholson_, Lord Bishop of _Carlisle_

_Denton Nicholas_, M. D.

Mr. _Vincent St. Nicholas_, Surgeon

Mr. _Marmaduke Norcliff_, Surgeon

Mr. _Joseph Nutting_, for 2.

O.

Mr. _John Oldmixon_

P.

Mr. _John Padmore_, Apothecary

_Richard Page_, Esq;

Mr. _John Partridge_, Apothecary

Mr. _John Peat_

Mr. _James Pettiver_, Apothecary

Mr. _William Philips_

The Honourable _William Pierpoint_, Esq;

Mr. _Thomas Pierce_, Surgeon

The Reverend Mr. _George Plaxton_

Mr. _William Plaxton_

Mr. _Jacob Pullen_

Mr. _Nathan Putt_

R.

Mrs. _Grace Rackstraugh_

_John Rathborn_, M. D.

Mr. _George Richardson_, Apoth.

Mr. _Jonas Rolse_

Mr. _George Rolfe_, Surgeon

Mr. _Abel Roper_

S.

Mr. _Samuel Sault_

Mr. _John Salter_, Surgeon

Mr. _John Salter_, Apothecary

Mr. _John Savage_

Mr. _Richard Savery_

The Honourable _James Saunderson_, Esq; for 2.

Mr. _Joshua Sharpe_

_John Shadwell_, M. D.

_Hans Sloane_, M. D.

Mr. _William Sloper_, Surgeon

The Reverend _Thomas Smith_, D.D.

Mr. _George Smith_

Mr. _John Smith_

Mr. _Nathaniel Smith_, Surgeon

Mr. _Francis Snape_

Mr. _Joshua Spencer_, Chymist

Mr. _Thomas Spurway_

_Samuel Stebbins_, Esq;

Mr. _Thomas Stollord_, Surgeon

Mr. _Samuel Storer_

Mr. _John Sturmy_

Mr. _John Sturt_

T.

Mr. _William Talman_

Mr. _Christopher Talman_, Surgeon

Dr. _Thomas Tomlinson_

The Honourable Coll. _Thompson_

_John Thorpe_, M. A.

_Edward Tidcomb_, Esq;

Mr. _Thomas Tucker_, Surgeon

Mr. _James Tully_

W.

Mr. _Charles Wadcock_, Surgeon

Mr. _Lyonel Wafer_, Surgeon

Mr. _Henry Walker_, Surgeon

_Robert Walpool_, Esq; Councellor of the Admiralty

Mr. _Samuel Walton_, Chymist

The Reverend _Richard Ward_, M.A.

Capt. —— _Watkins_

_Abraham Weeks_, M. A. of _Maudlin College_ in _Oxford_

_Thomas West_, M. D.

Mr. _John West_

Mr. _Joseph Whiston_, for 6.

Mr. _Ayliff White_

Mr. _George Wilson_, Chymist

Mr. _John Wilson_, Surgeon

Mr. _James Wiltshire_

_Henry Worsley_, Esq;

Mr. _John Wyat_, for 6.

Y.

Mr. _John Yates_, Surgeon

Amico admodum colendo D. _THOMÆ GREENHILL_ eximiam suam ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑΝ

edenti χαίρειν καὶ εὐπραγεῖν.

_Quodcunq; ex Terris volitat medicamen_ Eois,

_Et quas commistas_ India _præbet Opes;

Quotquot_ Persiacis _glomerantur Aromata in Arvis,

Atq;_ Sabæorum _Balsama prompta Solo;

Quascunq; auratas_ Arabum _Campestria Merces,

Pharmaca vel quotquot_ Turcica Mecca, _locant;

Fervidus exustas peragrans Mercator Arenas,

Quæcunq; asportat Magmata odorifera;

Quæq;_ Palæstinis _stillant Opobalsama Plantis,

Et quæ_ Nilois _consita sparsa Jugis;

Thaumata_ Memphiticis _quæcunq; videntur in Antris,

Et quæ Pyramidum claustra stupenda tenent;

Tradidit arcano quodcunq; Volumine_ Mystes

Ter Magnus, _vel quæ dogmata_ Aristoteles;

_Cuncta hæc dignatur nobis_ Greenhillius _ardens

Ecce salutifera suppeditare Manu.

Esse quid hoc dicam, novus hic divinus_ Apollo

_Quod subito Arctois Alpibus exoritur!

Cedite_, Romani _Medicastri, cedite_ Graii,

_Abdicet atq; Artes_ [1]Anglica Turba _novas.

Nullus adest Squalor, Fætorve, aut dira Mephitis,

Sed redolent succis Atria thuriferis;

Mirifico incisæ stipantur Pulvere Venæ,

Atq; Artus laxos Unguina mista fovent.

Volvas, Mysta sagax, Vita Ceromate functa

Corpora, & intingas_ Bammate _perpetuo:

Præclara socios pergas sanare Medela,

Atq; Orci rabidis Faucibus eripere;

Donec succinea sero sis clausus in Arca,

Dumq; Animus propere tendat ad Astra Viam_.

Joan. Kersey, _Sen._

Footnote 1:

Undertakers.

Viro Admodùm Erudito _Thomæ Greenhill_, Chirurgo in ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑΝ, sive

Artem _Pollincturæ_, ab illo editam.

_Miramur_ Phariis _nutantia Pondera Saxis,

Et minùs Hospitibus firma Sepulchra suis.

Quod dare debuerant, Ævo Monumenta carerent,

Sæcula ni functis sumeret ipse Lapis.

Arguit elapsam, quâ_ Mumia _duruit, Artem,

Orbatumq; dolet Matre superstes Opus.

At tua Niliaci referent Arcana Laboris

Scripta, nec ignotis jam fluet Amnis Aquis._

Arabiæ Fœlicis _Opes, Miracula_ Memphis,

Isiacos _Mores, Justa, Sepulchra, Faces,

Quicquid_ Arabs _novit_, Pharii _docuere Sophistæ

Indicibus Chartis pandet amica Manus_.

Pollinctura _tibi reduces debebit Honores,

Arteq;_ Apollineâ _Structa perennis erit.

Corpora quâ nobis servas, tibi nomen in Ævum

Servabis; quâ nos Fama manebit, ope.

Quid dissolvendum restat, Mors irrita? Servat

Corpora_ Greenhillus _salva, Animasq; DEUS_.

G. R.

TO HIS

_Ingenious Friend Mr._ Thomas Greenhill.

’Tis great and worthy of our _Praise_ to lead

The _Living_ thro’ the _Dwellings_ of the _Dead_;

_Death’s_ grisly _Terrours_ by your _Skill_ to Charm,

And his fell _Furies_ of their _Stings_ disarm:

The _Mighty Maker_ has on you bestow’d

The wond’rous _Science_ for a general _Good_.

The _Labours_ of your _Studies_ he has crown’d

With _Art_, alike Important and Profound;

With _Death_ and _Time_ he’s taught you to engage,

And save his best _Creation_ from their _Rage_.

_MAN_, the true _Image_ of his heav’nly _Form_,

Was a rich _Prey_ to the devouring _Worm_;

Scarce had his _Breath_ it’s Vital Seat forsook

But frozen were his _Limbs_, and frightful was his _Look_,

Livid his _Lips_, his whole _Complexion_ wan,

And _Nature_ loath’d to view the lifeless _Man_;

A poor Precarious _Being_ he enjoy’d,

And soon the _Grave_ his beauteous _Frame_ destroy’d,

Till you had learn’d by equal _Thought_ and _Care_

To keep him, as he was created, _Fair_;

To heal the ghastly _Wounds_ that _Death_ had made,

And give new _Beauties_ which shall never fade:

_Heav’n_ has to you the Sacred _Art_ reveal’d,

Which had for twice ten _Ages_ been conceal’d;

From common Ruine you the _Body_ keep,

And turn the filthiness of _Death_ to _Sleep_;

Fair as the _Slumbers_ of a _Virgin_ seem,

Who dreams of _Joy_, and blushes at her _Dream_,

_Youth_ you preserve, and by your _Science_ save

The living _Graces_ in the rotting _Grave_.

Sooner the _Egyptian_ King’s aspiring _Tomb_

May fall, the _Marble_ waste, the _Brass_ consume,

Old _Time_ may sooner run his destin’d Race,

Than the new _Wonders_ of your _Art_ deface:

The _Balm_ and _Eastern Odours_ you employ,

The Noxious _Vapours_ of the _Vault_ destroy;

You reconcile us to the Things we loath,

We feel the _Flesh_ is firm, the _Features_ smooth;

We see, we smell, by e’ry _Sense_ we try

Your _Skill_, and are no more afraid to _Die_.

Go on——And may you equal _Favour_ find,

With the vast _Service_ you have done _Mankind_:

May the vile _Quacks_, who _Heav’ns_ high _Form_ prophane,

With _Practices_ as infamous as vain.

The base _Impostors_ of the _Funeral Trade_,

Who cheat at once the _Living_ and the _Dead_,

Be _punish’d_ and _expos’d_, and _Art_ restor’d

To her old _Honours_, and her due _Reward_:

So late _Posterity_ shall sing your _Praise_,

And _Fame_ bright _Statues_ to your _Glory_ raise.

_J. Oldmixon._

_To his Friend the Author._

Fragrant _Arabian Gums_, employ’d with _Art_,

From _Worms_ and _Dust_ preserve our meaner _Part_;

But _Labours_, such as yours, enliven _Fame_,

And with due _Elogies_ preserve a _Name_;

They’ll make the _Worthies_ of the _Age_ to come

Just _Homage_ pay, and venerate your _Tomb_.

_Greenhill_, proceed in _Learning’s Paths_ to tread,

And make your self _Immortal_ by the _Dead_;

Be this your _Praise_, with equal _Skill_ you strive

To _Embalm_ the _Dead_, and keep your _Friends_ alive.

_B. B._

ERRATA.

Page 24. Line 24. for _Jujiæ_ read _Injice_, p. 31. l. 9. for _Nolanus_

r. _Santorellus_, p. 111. l. 31. for on _r._ in, p. 127. l. 29. for

_Marenuna_ r. _Maremnia_, p. 230. l. 12. for _Romans_ r. _Grecians_, p.

330. l. 26. for _Scardonius_ r. _Scardeonius_.

THE

Art of Embalming.

LETTER I.

_To_ Charles Bernard, _Esq; Sergeant-Surgeon to Her MAJESTY, Present

Master of the Surgeons Company, and one of the Surgeons of St._

Bartholomew_’s Hospital_.

SIR,

[Sidenote: _Surgery_ the Chief of _Art_]

If the Excellency of any _Art_ consist only in its Usefulness, or if it

derive its Preeminence from the Object, with which it converses, it

necessarily must follow, That the Profession of _Surgery_ is the Chief

of _Arts_, since it is employ’d about so noble a Subject as _Man_; and

therefore the _Greeks_ have thought fit to call such manual Operations

_The Art of Surgery_, which otherwise might as well have been apply’d to

any Mechanick Trade.

[Sidenote: Has two useful Branches;]

Thence it is _Anatomy_ and _Embalming_ are also equally to be esteem’d,

since they are not only Branches of this _Art_, but likewise absolutely

necessary to be known by its Professors; the one informing us of the

constituent Parts of the Body, and the other preserving it for ever in

our Memories.

[Sidenote: One Taught in our _Theatre_, and the other to be wish’d

there, yet _Embalming_ practis’d only by _Undertakers_.]

The first has been Learnedly Treated of by our own Countrymen, as well

as Foreigners, and is admirably perform’d even at this Day in our

_Anatomical Theatre_; whereas the last, I know not by what Fate, is

surreptitiously cut off from _Surgery_, and chiefly practis’d by

ignorant _Undertakers_.

[Sidenote: The Author vindicates the Right of it.]

For the Honour therefore of our Profession, I have undertaken to

vindicate _The Art of Embalming_, and will prove it to be no less

antient and noble than _Surgery_ it self. In order to this, I will first

shew both the antient and modern Methods of _Embalming_, as practis’d by

the most learned and expert _Physicians_, _Surgeons_ and _Anatomists_,

and then proceed to detect the Frauds and Subtilties of the

_Undertakers_ or _Burial-Men_, to the end the World being made sensible

of their Abuses, may the easier be reconcil’d to a right Opinion of the

legal and skilful Artist; but before I proceed to acquaint you with any

farther particulars, I shall content my self to shew you the Authority

and Reasonableness of the Use of _Embalming_, together with the many

Advantages that accrue thereby. [Sidenote: Useful in _Natural

Philosophy_ and _Physiology_.] First, I presume, it may not be a little

Entertaining, should I relate how far the Knowledge of this _Art_ may be

necessary in our very Domestic and Culinary Affairs, such as, Tanning,

Painting, Dying, Brewing, Baking, _&c._ as also in Confectionery, by

Conserving all sorts of Roots, Herbs and Fruits, and Preserving Wines

and Juices; for this _Art_ being grounded as well on _Natural

Philosophy_ as _Physiology_, it not only teaches us how to Improve our

Drinks, but our Aliments likewise, and not only to give a grateful Taste

in Cookery, and thereby to whet the Appetite, but also to Preserve fresh

Meats, Fish, Fruits, _&c._ beyond their wonted duration.

[Sidenote: Particularly in _Anatomy_, _Surgery_, &c.]

These Things however I will pass by for the present, that I may come

more immediately to my principal _Intent_, which is to shew how a Body

may be so Preserv’d, that by the help of _Anatomy_ we may trace its

minute _Meanders_, and investigate the secret Passages thereof, without

being hindred by any offensive _Odour_ or contaminating _Cruor_.

[Sidenote: How Useful to the _Naturalist_,]

By this _Art_ the _Naturalist_ may be enabled to Collect and Preserve a

numberless variety of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Reptiles, Herbs, Shrubs,

Trees, with Things monstrous and preternatural; as likewise those which

are more rare and not appropriate to his own Climate, and this for

compleating his _Musæum_ or Repository with all the Curiosities and

Rarities in the Animal and Vegetable World.

[Sidenote: To the _Physician_,]

By this _Art_ the _Physician_ learns the situation and use of the Parts

of Man’s Body, with the several alterations and changes in the Juices,

as well in their healthful as morbid State; and consequently knows how

to preserve and confirm them free from all Diseases, as likewise to

correct and put a stop to malignant and putrid Fevers, which otherwise

must inevitably destroy the sick and weak Patient.

[Sidenote: To the _Surgeon_.]

By this _Art_ the _Surgeon_, in a rightly prepar’d Skeleton, sees the

natural Position of the Bones, and proper Motions of each Part, with the

true and natural Schemes of the Veins, Arteries, Nerves and other

curious Preparations; which not only teach him the difference between

the Muscles, the _similar_, _dissimilar_, and _containing_ as well as

_contained_ Parts of the Body; but likewise how, in performing each

Operation, he should skilfully avoid Cutting what he should not, and

destroying the Function of that he is to relieve. He is also hereby

instructed what Remedies may be found out against _Gangrenes_,

_Sphacelus_ and other Distempers that are judg’d Incurable without being

extirpated by Knife or Fire: Who then can sufficiently admire and value

this Noble _Art of Embalming_ since it tends to the Conservation both of

Life and Limb?

[Sidenote: _Anatomy_ deficient without it.]

For tho’ _Anatomy_ gives us an Insight into these Things in general, yet

is it deficient without the _Balsamic Art_, in as much as it can neither

so particularly nor frequently shew us, what in conjunction with it, may

without any offence be Contemplated at any Time, and as often as we

please.

[Sidenote: How useful in _Divinity_.]

Thus may we entirely conquer and accomplish that _Delphian_ Oracle,

Γνῶθι σεαυτὸν, by making most of our Disquisitions into Human Nature by

_Dissections_: And tho’ Brutes may sometimes be useful in _Comparative

Anatomy_, yet Man being the _Epitome_ and Perfection of the _Macrocosm_,

his Body shews a more wonderful Mechanism than all other Creatures can

do, as one thus very elegantly expresses in Latin: _Hominem_ (says he)

_a DEO post reliqua factum fuisse; ut DEUS in ipso exprimeret, sub brevi

quodam Compendio, quicquid diffuse ante fecerat_.

[Sidenote: What accounted by this Age and what by the _Antients_.]

The present Age therefore accounts the chief Use of this _Art_ to be in

_Anatomical_ Preparations; but I shall shew another more antient and

more general, which is the Preserving a Human Dead Body entire, and

which is properly term’d _Embalming_: More antient, I say, as having

been first devis’d and practis’d by the Wise and Learned _Egyptians_,

and more general in that it relates to every particular Person, yet is

it by most despis’d and look’d on meerly as an unnecessary expensive

Trouble; so that unless I can convince these People to the contrary, I

must not expect to find my ensuing Labours meet with any Favour. But

before I affirm _The Art of Embalming_ to be a particular part of that

Duty, which obliges all Mankind to take care of their Dead, [Sidenote:

The Right of Burial and Funeral Ceremonies.] I shall give some cogent

Reasons to prove the Right of Burial, what Things are necessary thereto,

whether Ceremonies are needless and superstitious, or Monuments

vain-glorious, _&c._ and this shall be as Nature dictates, the Law of

GOD appoints, and the Law of Nations directs and obliges.

[Sidenote: _Sepulture_ a Debt to Nature.]

First, _Sepulture_ is truly and rightly accounted to be _Jus Naturæ_, by

reason the very condition of Human Nature admonishes us, that the

spiritless Body should be restor’d to the Earth, from whence it was

deriv’d; so that it only pays that Debt of its own accord, which

otherwise Nature would require against its Will. Thus, in the beginning

of the World, so soon as _Adam_ had transgressed, [Sidenote: Ordain’d by

GOD himself.] GOD said to him, _Gen._ 3. 19. _Thou shalt return to the

Ground, from whence thou wert taken; for Dust thou art, and unto Dust

thou shalt return_. Whence _Ecclesiastes_, 12. 7. says, _The Dust shall

return to the Earth as it was: and the Spirit to GOD who gave it_.

Likewise patient _Job_ thus expresses himself, _Job_ 1. 21. _Naked came

I out of my Mothers Womb_ (which _David_ also calls the _Lowest part of

the Earth_, Psalm 139. 15.) _and naked shall I return thither_. Upon

which _Quenstedt_ thus Comments, _p._ 10. De Sepult. vet. _He shall not

return again into his Mothers Womb, but unto the Earth which is the

Mother of all Things_. Upon which occasion read also _Ecclesiasticus_,

40. 1.

[Sidenote: Practis’d by the _Heathens_.]

Hence it is the _Heathens_ have generally follow’d the same Custom of

restoring the Dead to their Mother Earth; since it is but according to

the course of Nature, for all Things to return at last to their first

Principles, and that so soon as ever a Disunion or Dissolution of the

Parts of Man’s Body shall be caused by Death. That each Thing has ever

immediately requir’d what it gave, is excellently describ’d by

_Euripides_, in one of his _Tragedies_ call’d the _Supplicants_, where

he introduces _Theseus_ Talking after this manner:

Ἐάσατ’ ἤδη γῇ καλυφθῆναι νεκρούς.

Ὅθεν δ’ ἕκαστον εἰς τὸ σῶμ’ ἀφίκετο,

Ἐνταῦθ’ ἀπῆλθε, πνεῦμα μὲν πρὸς αἰθέρα,

Τὸ σῶμα δ’ εἰς γῆν· οὔ τι γὰρ κεκτήμεθα

Ἡμέτερον αὐτὸ πλὴν ἐνοικῆσαι βίον·

Κᾄπειτα τὴν θρέψασαν αὐτὸ δεῖ λαβεῖν.

_Jam sinite Terræ Mortuos Gremio tegi:

Res unde quæque sumpserat Primordium,

Eo recipitur: Spiritus Cælo redit

Corpusque Terræ: Jure nec enim mancupi:

Sed brevis ad Ævi Tempus utendum datur:

Mox Terra repetit ipsa quod nutriverat._

Suffer the Dead within the Earths cold Womb

To be Interr’d, nor envy them a Tomb;

For all Things, whence they did their Being draw,

Thither, at last, return by Natures Law:

The Soul flies back to Heav’n from whence it came,

Our mouldring Bodies Mother Earth does claim;

Lent us but for a fleeting space to wear,

And then they to their first Abodes repair.

[Sidenote: Asserted in the _Scripture_.]

Hereby it plainly appears that we really possess nothing of our own, and

what we seem to enjoy, is but only lent us for a season, and must be

restor’d again when ever we die, which is agreeable to that Expression

of _Job_, in the latter part of the above-mentioned Verse and Chapter.

_The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the

Lord._ Also Holy _David_, Psalm 146. 4. (speaking of Man’s Frailty and

Mortality) says, _His Breath goes forth, he returns to his Earth_. Here

he emphatically calls it _his Earth_, both because he was made of it,

_Gen._ 2. 27. and must return to it again, _Gen._ 3. 19. and by reason

he has a Right to a Burial-Place in it.

[Sidenote: Confirm’d by the _Philosophers_ and _Poets_.]

The same is likewise Taught us by _Cicero_, where he says, _Reddenda

Terra Terræ_: _That the Earth_ (meaning Man’s Body) _must be restor’d to

its Earth_; which also gave occasion to the antient Philosophers to

contemplate the Beginning and End, or the Life and Death of Man, that

thereby they might be the better able to Teach us what we really are in

Nature, and how little we have to Boast of: The very Thought of which

put an old Poet into a Passion and Admiration, expressing himself thus

in gingling _Monkish_ Verses:

_Cum Fæx, cum Limus, cum Res vilissima simus,

Unde superbimus, ad Terram Terra redimus._

Man who is made of _Earth_, Can he be vain

And know he must return to _Earth_ again?

Methinks the very Consideration of this should cause us to lay aside all

Pride and Vanity, and serve for a perpetual Memorial of Humility and

Obedience to our _Creator_, who as he was pleas’d to endue us with

Rational Souls, and to give us Dominion over all Things here below, yet,

that we might not be thereby puffed up and tempted to forget him, he

wisely formed us of the _Dust_, and, in his good Time, will reduce us to

_Dust_ again. Thence Divine _Plato_ assures us, that the End and Scope

of his Philosophy was only _The Consideration of Death_.

[Sidenote: Its Rise and Antiquity.]

In Obedience therefore to the Laws both of GOD and Nature, _Sepulture_

undoubtedly was at first Instituted, and if either Antiquity or

universal Custom can prove a convincing Argument, you may account it as

antient as the World it self, and us’d by all Nations tho’ perhaps in

different manners; for you must allow, so soon as Death came in by Man’s

Transgression, it necessarily follow’d that some care must have been

taken to Bury his Carcass. The first Instance of this that we read of,

in the Sacred History of the old Testament, is how _Abraham_, the Father

of the _Faithful_, Buried his Wife _Sarah_ in the Cave of the Field

_Machpelah_, which he had bought of the Sons of _Heth_ for a

Burying-Place for his Family, _Gen._ 23. 19, 20. There also St. _Jerome_

asserts _Adam_ the first Man was Buried; and _Nicolaus Lyranus_ and

_Alphonsus Tostatus_ are of Opinion the Four Patriarchs were Buried

there likewise with their Wives, _Eve_, _Sarah_, _Rebecca_ and _Lea_,

all which you may find explain’d more at large in _Quenstedt_, p. 2, 3,

4.

[Sidenote: First Cause of it.]

Now this seems to have been one of the _first Causes of Interment_, to

wit, that it being the course of Nature, for Bodies depriv’d of Spirit

or Life to corrupt or stink; and the Medicinal Art being little known

and less us’d in those early Days (without the Knowledge of which it was

impossible to preserve them) there remained no other way of securing the

Living from the pestiferous Exhalations of the Dead, than by burying

their Carcasses in the Earth, and so removing such miserable Objects out

of their sight; which seems clearly intimated by the aforesaid Example

of _Abraham_, when, being in much trouble for the Loss and Death of

_Sarah_ his _Delight_, he spake thus unto the Sons of _Heth_, Gen. 23.

4. _Give me a Possession of a Burial-Place with you, that I may Bury my

Dead out of my Sight._ (LXX. θάψω τὸν νεκρόν μου, ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ) where it is

to be observ’d, that he no longer calls her his Wife, but his Dead; as

knowing that those alterations, which she must in a few Days inevitably

undergo, would have deterr’d him from the very Thoughts of her, if he

had not earnestly sought for and obtain’d a _Burying-Place_, where he

might hide her out of his _Sight_.

[Sidenote: Second Cause.]

This is to be look’d upon as the _second Cause_ or _End of Burial_, to

wit, that it being not only disagreeable to the dignity of our Nature,

but also occasioning great sadness of Mind, for the Living to see what

dismal Accidents and Calamities befall the Dead, that we should free our

selves from the Apprehensions and black _Idea’s_ such Objects are

naturally apt to inspire, by removing them out of our Sight and Mind, by

a timely Sepulture: For as _Demosthenes_ said in a Funeral Oration,

_Leniatur ita Luctus Eorum, qui Suis sunt Orbati_; _By this means the

Grief of those, who are depriv’d of their Friends, is alleviated_.

[Sidenote: Thought more Beneficial to the _Living_ than the _Dead_.] So

that these two Reasons seeming to conduce more to the Benefit of the

Living than the Dead, it has given occasion to some to believe, that

Burial was from thence invented, and of this Opinion was _Grotius_, who

thus writes: _Hinc est, quod Officium Sepeliendi, non tam Homini, id

est, Personæ, quam Humanitati, id est, Naturæ Humanæ, præstari dicitur_;

_For this Reason it is that the Office of Burial is said not to be paid

so much to the Man_, viz. _To the particular Person, as to Humanity it

self, that is, to Human Nature in general_. And St. _Austin_, Lib. 1.

_De Civit. DEI_, cap. 12. and _Lib. De Cura pro Mortuis_, cap. 2.

affirms, _Curationem Funeris, Conditionem Sepulturæ, Pompas Exequiarum,

magis esse Vivorum Solatia, quam Mortuorum Subsidia_; that _The

regulating and management of the Funeral, the manner of Burial, the

Magnificence and Pomp of the Exequies, were devised rather as a

Consolation to the Living than any Relief to the Dead_. But _Seneca_,

Lib. 1. _De Remed._ hath more plainly confirm’d both the foregoing

Reasons, saying, _Non Defunctorum Causa, sed Vivorum inventa est

Sepultura, ut Corpora & Visu & Odore fœda submoverentur_; _Burial was

found out not so much for the sake of the Dead as the Living, that by

means thereof Bodies noisom both to Sight and Smell might be remov’d_:

Therefore _Andrew Rivet_, in his 19th _Exercise_, on the 23 Chap. of

_Genesis_, commends _Sepulture_ as a laudable Custom, pertaining to

common Policy and Honesty. Human Nature would be asham’d to see Man, the

Master-Piece of the Creation, left unregarded or lye unburied and naked,

expos’d to the Insults of all Creatures, and become a Herritage to the

most vile Worms and Serpents, or lye Rotting like Dung upon the face of

the Earth; so that if Pity and Compassion will not move our obdurate

Hearts to Bury him, the very Stench and Corruption of the Dead will

compel us to it. Hence _Chytræus_:

_Corpus inane Animæ, tandem Fætore maligno,

A se abigit Cunctos_——

A breathless Body, tho’ our Pity fails

To make us Bury it, its Stench prevails.