Nature and Nations, and not only by the Human but by the Divine Law; for
the most Barbarous as well as Civiliz’d People of the World have ever
paid some Respect and Observance to their Dead, tho’ perhaps after
different Manners, by Burying them in the Water, Earth, Air, Fire, _&c._
The common Dictates of Nature have taught them to abhor such dismal
Objects and offensive Smells as dead Bodies must necessarily present,
and their Religion has shown them the Inhumanity and Cruelty of
neglecting their Duty to them: Nay, if we look into the Natural History
of Animals, we shall find some of them excelling Man in this particular,
by taking a more than ordinary Care of their Dead, as is to be seen not
only in Cranes, Elephants and Dolphins, _&c._ As _Ælian de Animalibus_,
Lib. 2. cap. 1. and _Lib._ 12. _cap._ 6. and _Franzius_ in his History
of Animals, _cap._ 4. _Peter Faber_ in his _Semestrium_, _Pliny_ and
others observe, but likewise in Ants, Bees and other Insects; for as
_Grotius_ in his Treatise, _De Jure Belli & Pacis_, Lib. 11. cap. 19.
rightly observes, [Sidenote: Observ’d by Brutes, _&c._ as well as Men.]
_Nullum est in Homine Factum laudabile, quin non Vestigium, in alio
aliquo Animantium Genere DEUS posuerit_. _There is nothing done by Man
worthy of Commendation, but GOD has imprinted some Imitation of it even
in Brutes._
A Corps lying unbury’d and Putrifying, is not only a dismal Aspect to
our Eyes, offensive to our Nose, and ungrateful to all our External
Senses, but even horrid in our very private Apprehensions and secret
Conceptions; nay to hear it but only nam’d, is so very unnatural and
unpleasant to us, that we care not to entertain the least Thought of
Death, even to the deferr’d Time of our Expiration. What presence of
Mind can enable a Fellow-Creature to behold such a miserable Object as
this, express’d by its dismal Aspect, deform’d Proportion, fœtid Smell,
putrid Carcass, and the like, and this perhaps of one who was but just
now your Bosom-Friend or the World’s Favorite, a Prince worthy of
Immortality for his Wisdom, Piety, Valour, Conduct, _&c._ and justly
admir’d for the Beauty of his Person, Gracefulness of his Mien, and
Conformity of all the External Parts of his Body, as well as Internal
Qualifications of his Mind? Certainly common Humanity and
Self-Preservation would alone persuade us to Inter him out of our Sight,
or else preserve him from a State of Corruption and Deformity by
_Embalming_.
[Sidenote: By both to prevent infection, _&c._]
I have before observ’d how Beasts receiv’d the Infection of the Murrain
from a Putrefaction of their own Bodies; now I will shew you how they
likewise, by Natural Instinct, avoid each other in such like Calamities:
The Sound shun the Company of the Infected, and they reciprocally
separate from the rest to Mourn by themselves. A wounded Bird leaves the
Flight: A Stag (when Shot) forsakes the Herd and flies to the Desarts:
And every Diseas’d Creature retires into some solitary Place, where its
last Care seems to be, that of providing for its Burial. [Sidenote:
Every Creature takes care of its own _Burial_.] Reptiles creep into
Holes, and Birds into their Nests, or the Bottoms of thick Hedges:
Rabbets die in their Burrows: Foxes, Badgers and Wolves, _&c._ in their
Dens, after which nothing will Inhabit there. So that they seem to know
they shall lie undisturb’d in those Dormitories, which they took care in
their Lives Time to provide and dig in order to their Interment; like as
some Hermits, who, during their Lives, made their Cave their Habitation,
but when Dead their Tomb.
The larger sort of Domestic and Tame Creatures seem likewise to
endeavour this, as much as they can, as may be observ’d from Horses,
Oxen, Sheep, _&c._ who when they decline and draw near their Deaths,
seek either the thickest part of a Wood, a Dell or Gravel-Pit in a
Common, or deep Ditch in a Field, where they may lay themselves down, as
in a Grave, and die: They seem to desire nothing more of their Master,
whom they have all their Lives faithfully serv’d, than to cover their
Bodies with the Earth.
The lesser Tame Animals, as Dogs, Cats, _&c._ know they have no occasion
to take that Care of themselves, for when they die, their Master is
oblig’d to remove them out of his House and bury them: [Sidenote: How
Insects bury themselves.] But as for Insects, they (fearing Mankind
should be regardless of their inconsiderable Bodies, and not be so
grateful as to take care of their Funerals, tho’ they had consum’d their
Lives in making Food and Raiment for their Master) seem with a more
extraordinary Contrivance, and admirable Art, to provide for their own
Burial. The little Bee works its Honey-Comb for the Benefit of Man while
it lives, and for its own Sepulture when it dies; the Comb serving for
its Tomb, and the Wax and remaining Honey for its Embalment, conformable
to that Saying of _Martial_, in his Fourth Book and Thirty Second
Epigram:
_Et latet, & lucet Phaetontide condita Gutta,
Ut videatur Apis Nectare clausa suo:
Dignum tantorum Pretium tulit illa Laborum,
Credibile est ipsam sic voluisse mori._
She lurks, she shines within her balmy Nest,
That there securely she may take her Rest;
For all her Labours past she asks but this,
That she may lye thus bury’d when she dies.
The Silk-Worm (which also willingly parts with her Stock and Labour for
the Benefit of Mankind) makes a small reserve of Silk, sufficient for
her Winding-Sheet, which when she has finish’d, she dies therein, and is
as nobly Interr’d, as all the _Egyptian Art_, with its fine Painted
Rowlers of Cyprus, Lawn or Silk could make her.
Other Insects, as Flies, Ants, Gnats, and the like, which are not
dispos’d with Organs to perform such Works, yet have this in particular,
that they can outdare the most resolute _Indian_ [Sidenote: Some are
_Burn’d_ and others _Embalm’d_.] (when, without any previous
Exhortation, they suddenly leap into the Funeral Pyre of a Candle or
Torch, and outvie the costly Embalming of _Arabia_) when they
voluntarily fly into liquid Amber, and by that means obtain a more noble
and incorruptible Sepulture than any other Creature. These have had
Poets to write Funeral Orations to their immortal Praise, as the two
Epigrams in _Martial_ of a Viper and Pismire in some measure testifie,
_Lib._ 4. _Ep._ 59. and _Lib._ 6. _Ep._ 15. Witness also _Brassavolus_
of the Pismire, and _Cardanus_’s _Mausoleum_ for a Flie: Nor could
_Virgil_ (the Prince of Poets) omit taking notice of the well order’d
Funerals of the Bees, _Georg._ _Lib._ 4. _l._ 255.
——_Tum Corpora Luce carentum
Exportant Tectis, & tristia Funera ducunt._
And crowds of Dead, that never must return }
To their lov’d Hives, in decent Pomp are born; }
Their Friends attend the Herse, and near Relations mourn. }
_Dryden._
_Ælian_, Lib. 5. cap. 49. reports, That if one Elephant finds another
dead, he will not pass by ’till he has got together a great heap of
Earth and flung it over his Carcass; so, in all other Creatures, Nature
has provided both Burial and a Grave for them. [Sidenote: Brutes Bury’d
with Pomp and Magnificence.] Nay it is yet further remarkable, that such
Brutes as have either prov’d faithful or loving to their Masters, or
done any extraordinary Action, have been bury’d with wonderful
Magnificence, and had Tombs and Inscriptions made in Honour of them.
_Cimon_ the _Athenian_ bury’d those Horses he had been thrice a Victor
with in the _Olympick_ Games, with great Pomp near his own Sepulchre.
Also _Alexander_ the _Great_ made a magnificent Funeral for his Horse
_Bucephalus_, building a City where he dy’d, and calling it after that
Beast’s Name in memory of him. After his Example, several of the _Roman_
Emperors and _Cæsars_, such as _Augustus_, _Caligula_, _Nero_, _Adrian_,
_Antoninus_, _Commodus_, &c. bury’d their favourite Horses, and adorn’d
their Tombs with Epitaphs, as you may find in _Barthius_, Lib. 23. cap.
8. _Pliny_, Lib. 8. cap. 22. Affirms such Horses as had conquer’d at the
_Olympick_ Games, were bury’d and had Tombs and Pyramids erected to
perpetuate their Fame.
[Sidenote: Tombs and Epitaphs in Honour of Brutes.]
_Xantippus_ carefully bury’d his Dogs, and, as _Kornmannus_ reports,
_Polliacus_ erected, in the Garden of Cardinal _Urbin_ at _Rome_,
Columns of the finest Marble, of vast Expence, in Memory of his beloved
Bitch, on which he inscrib’d this Epitaph:
_Quod potui, posui tibi, fida Catella, Sepulcrum;
Digna magis Cæli Munere, quam Tumuli.
Candenti ex Lapide hæc tibi convenit Urna: fuisti
Candida tota Fide, candida tota Pilo.
Si Cœlum, ut quondam, Canibus patet, haud tua Terras
Incendet, sed Ver Stella perenne dabit._
My Faithful Bitch, to thee this Pile is meant;
More worthy Heaven than Mortal Monument:
Of whitest Stone ’tis fit thy Tomb I rear,
Since candid were thy Actions, white thy Hair.
If Heav’n, as formerly, to Dogs gives Place,
[2]Thy Star will never scorch, but cherish Human Race.
Footnote 2:
Alluding to the _Dog Days_.
Also in the House of that Famous _Italian_ Poet _Francis Petrarch_, at
_Arqua_, near _Padua_, there is a Tomb of a Cat, adorn’d with an Elegy,
which _Santorellus_ in his _Post-Praxis Medica_, p. 5. has Printed, with
others of a Mule, a Crane, _&c._ _Pliny_, Lib. 10. cap. 43. says, a Crow
(which imitated Human Voice, and which was wont every Morning to salute
the Senators by their Names) was bury’d honourably, being carry’d out on
the Shoulders of two _Æthiopians_, with a Crown before it, and a Trumpet
sounding; the Person that kill’d it being ston’d to Death. _Ælian_, Lib
6. _Animal._ cap. 7. tells us, _Marrhes_, King of _Egypt_, built a
Sepulchre for a Raven, which was wont to carry his Letters to and fro
under its Wing; and, _Lib._ 7. _cap._ 41. he says, _Lacydes_, a
Peripatetic Philosopher, had a Goose which us’d to follow him up and
down, both at home and abroad, and whom for that Reason he Bury’d with
the same Honour and Respect as he would have done a Brother or Son. The
Stag which warr’d against the _Trojans_, was also honour’d with a Tomb;
but it were endless to relate all the Brutes the _Pagans_ have given
Burial to, as _Rhodiginus_ witnesses in _Antiq. Lect._ 58. cap. 13. The
_Parthians_ were accustom’d to bury their Horses, and the _Molossians_
their Dogs, as _Statius_ the Poet observes, _Lib._ 2. Sylvar. in
Epicedio Pileti.
——_Gemit inter Bella peremptum
Parthus Equum, fidosq; Canes flevere Molossi:
Et Volucres habuere Rogos, Cervusq; Maronis._
The _Parthian_ mourns his Horse in Battel slain;
For faithful Dogs _Molossians_ weep in vain.
Ev’n Birds had Funeral Piles, and _Virgil_’s Stag.
But the _Egyptians_ surpass’d them all, for they Embalm’d the Bodies of
several Animals, as Cats, Crocodiles, Hawks and the like, that so they
might keep them the longer to adore and admire: If therefore _Pagans_
have been thus careful to honour Brutes with all the Rights of Burial,
how much more ought we who are _Christians_ to afford this last Duty to
one another?
We find in the first Age of the World, says _Cambden_, the Care of
Burial was so great, that Fathers laid a strict Charge on their
Children, concerning translating their Bodies to their Graves, every one
being desirous to return in _Sepulchra Majorum_, into the Sepulchres of
his Ancestors. Thus those Holy Patriarchs, _Abraham_, _Isaac_, _Jacob_,
_Joseph_ and the rest, did not only lay the heaviest Commands about
their being bury’d, but also about transferring their Bodies to such
Places as they nam’d: So _Jacob_, at his Death, charg’d his Son _Joseph_
to carry his Body into the Sepulchre of his Fathers, _Gen._ 47. 30. and
49. 29. And _Joseph_ commanded his Brethren they should remember and
tell their Posterity, that when they went away into the Land of Promise,
they should carry his Bones along with them, _Gen._ 50. 25. Now this
Filial Care was not only their last and greatest Duty to their Parents,
[Sidenote: _Burial_ a Work acceptable to GOD.] but also a Work well
pleasing and acceptable to GOD; an Example whereof we have in _Tobit_,
who being blind, GOD sent his Angel _Raphael_ to cure him, as a Reward
for his pious Care in burying those who had been slain by King
_Sennacherib_ in his wrath, and cast without the Walls of _Nineveh_: But
altho’ the King’s Servants forceably took away his Goods, and sought to
put him to Death; yet when he heard one more had been strangl’d, and
cast out into the Market-Place, he was so zealous in his Care, that tho’
he was just set down to Meat, he tasted not of it, ’till he had fetch’d
him up into a private Room, and when the Sun was set, he ventur’d to
make a Grave and bury him. [Sidenote: To our Saviour.] Likewise our
Saviour (being to rise again the Third Day) commended that good Work of
those Religious Women, who pour’d pretious Ointments, with sweet Odours,
on his Head and Body, which they did in order to his Burial. Moreover,
the Gospel has crown’d those with immortal Praise that took down
Christ’s Body from the Cross, and gave it honest and honourable Burial.
This signifies, says St. _Austin_, that the Providence of GOD extends
even to the Bodies of the Dead (for he is pleas’d with such good Works)
and builds up a Belief of the Resurrection, by which, says he, we may
learn this profitable Lesson, _viz._ How great the Reward of Alms done
to the Living must be, since this Duty and Kindness shown even to the
Dead is not forgotten of GOD.
_Burial of the Dead_ was accounted by the Antients a Work of _Piety_ and
_Religion_, because they esteem’d it both an Act of _Justice_ and
_Mercy_:
[Sidenote: An Act of Justice.]
Of _Justice_, in that Earth should be return’d to Earth and Dust to
Dust; for, What could be more just than to restore to Mother Earth her
Children, that as she had furnish’d them at first with a Material Being,
Food, Raiment, Sustenance, and all things necessary, so she might at
last receive them again into her Bosom, and afford them lodging ’till
the Resurrection? [Sidenote: Of Mercy.] The Antients also thought it an
_Act of Mercy_ to hide the Dead in the Earth, that the Organs of such
Divine Souls might not be torn and devour’d by wild Beasts, Birds, _&c._
_Cicero_ in his Oration for _Quinctius_ calls Burial an _Act of
Humanity_. [Sidenote: Of Humanity.] _Valerius Maximus_, Lib. 5. cap. 1.
_Humanity and Mildness_. _Seneca de Benefic._ Lib. 5 cap. 20. _Humanity
and Mercy_. _Ammianus Marcellinus_, Lib. 31. [Sidenote: Of Piety.] _A
necessary Office of Piety_; and St. _Ambrose_ in the beginning of an
Oration of his on the Death of the Emperor _Theodosius_, _The last and
greatest Office of Piety_. _Isocrates_ commending the _Athenians_ for
the great Care they took to bury their Dead, says, It was a mark and
token of their Piety towards the Gods, since it was they and not Men
that had establish’d that Law. Also _Servius_ observes _Virgil_ call’d
_Æneas_ by the name of _Pious_, because of the Funeral Honours, he, with
so much Care and Application, had always paid to his Relations and
Friends. _Plato_ speaking of the several kinds of Justice, has not
omitted what belongs to the Dead; nay _Aristotle_ thought it more just
to help those that were depriv’d of Life, than to assist the Living. The
_Latin_ Phrase also intimates how just a thing it is to bury the Dead,
where it calls Funeral Rites, _Justa Exequiarum_, or _Justa Funebria_,
_quia justum est_, _justa facere_, _solvere_, _peragere_. Nay it has no
other appellation in that Language than that of Justice, and in _Greek_
of a lawful Custom, Piety and Godliness, so that amongst both the
_Romans_ and _Grecians_, who have been the two most potent and civiliz’d
Nations of the World, when they would express one had been Interr’d,
they said, they had done him Right or Justice, and such as neglected to
do the like they accounted void of all Piety and Humanity.
[Sidenote: Burial the Care of the Gods.]
And to shew how Religious an Act it is to bury the Dead; the _Gentiles_
assign’d the Care of all Funerals and Sepulture to certain Gods they
term’d _Manes_, whose chief was _Pluto_, call’d also _Summanus_, whence
all Tombs and Monuments came to be dedicated, _Diis Manibus_. _Homer_,
_Euripedes_, _Aristotle_ and others have accounted Sepulture an Honour
and Reward to Mens Actions; and on the contrary look’d on all such as
miserable and unhappy whose Bodies lying unbury’d, wanted that last
Happiness.
[Sidenote: An Honour to the Dead.]
Decent Burial, with suitable Attendants of Kindred and Friends,
according to the Quality of the Person (says _Weever_ of _Funeral
Monuments_, p. 25.) is an Honour to the Deceas’d. _Hezekiah_, says the
Text, _slept with his Fathers, and they bury’d him in the highest
Sepulchres of the Sons of David, and all Judah and the Inhabitants of
Jerusalem did him Honour at his Death_, 2 Chron. 32. 33. Thus in all
Ages Burial has been accounted an Happiness and Quiet to the Mind, and a
Favour from GOD, whereas the want of it has been look’d on as an Evil
and Misery, a Curse and Punishment, a Disgrace and Ignominy.
[Sidenote: An Happiness, Favour and Kindness.]
First, In the Holy Scripture it is call’d an Happiness, Favour and
Kindness: This was foretold by _Ahijah_, and to be shewn to _Abijah_, 1
Kings 14. 13. _And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he
only of Jeroboam shall come to the Grave, because in him there is found
some good Thing towards the Lord GOD of Israel_, &c. It was accounted a
Glory to be bury’d in a Sepulchre, even to Kings who were laid up in
stately Tombs and Monuments, as in their Beds, and thus the Prophet
_Isaiah_ speaks, _Chap._ 14. _ver._ 18. _All the Kings of the Nations
lye in Glory, every one in his own House._ By the same Prophet GOD
comforted _Zedekiah_ King of _Judah_ when he was taken Captive, telling
him he should never die in War or Battel, or be deny’d Burial; but that
the King of _Babylon_ should give his People leave to bury him in an
honourable manner, and with such Solemnities as the burning of sweet
Odours, _&c._ at his Funeral, as they were wont to use at the Exequies
of their Kings, who liv’d belov’d of their Country, 2 _Chron._ 16. 14.
_But thou shalt die in Peace_ (says _Jeremiah_ to him, _Chap._ 34.
_ver._ 5.) _and with the Burnings of thy Fathers, the former Kings which
were before thee, so shall they burn Odours for thee, and lament thee_,
&c.
[Sidenote: Especially in the Family-Sepulchre.]
To die a natural Death, to be lamented and bury’d, and to lye in the
Sepulchre of their Fathers, was ever accounted a great Honour and
Happiness among the antient _Jews_, for which the Scripture-Phrase,
throughout the Old Testament, is _Sleeping_, which implies lying at Rest
and undisturb’d as well as Dying. Thus, in 2 _Kings_ 8. 24. it is said,
_And Joram slept with his Fathers, and was bury’d with his Fathers in
the City of David_. And 9. 28. _His Servants carry’d Ahaziah in a
Chariot to Jerusalem, and bury’d him in a Sepulchre with his Fathers in
the City of David._ And _Cap._ 15. _ver._ 7. _So Azariah slept with his
Fathers_, &c. Also, _ver._ 22. and 28. of the same Chapter, and in many
other places, as 1 _Kings_ 2. 10. _So David slept with his Fathers, and
was bury’d in the City of David._ By all this it is to be observ’d, that
in this City was the usual Royal Burying-Place, where both _David_ and
all his Successors, that were of any Note or Renown, were bury’d. This
appears likewise by 1 _Kings_ 11. 43. 2 _Chron._ 12. 16. and 14. 1. and
16. 14. and 21. 1. _David_’s Sepulchre was made of such durable
Materials, and so well kept and repair’d by his Posterity, that it
continu’d ’till the Apostles Time (_Acts_ 2. 22.) which was the space of
almost 2000 Years.
[Sidenote: Of which Deprivation is a Curse.]
On the contrary, to die an unnatural Death, and in another Country, as
also to be depriv’d of the Sepulchre of ones Fathers or Ancestors, was
always esteem’d a note of Infamy and a kind of Curse. Thus, in 1 _Kings_
13. 22. the seduc’d Prophet, because he disobey’d the Word of the Lord,
was reprov’d by him who was the occasion of his Error, as he had it in
Command from GOD, and withal told, _That his Carcass should not come
into the Sepulchre of his Fathers_. _Isaiah_ speaking in derision of the
Death and Sepulture of the King of _Babylon_, which was not with his
Fathers, in that his Tyranny was so much abhorr’d, thus notes his
Unhappiness, _Chap._ 14. 19, 20. _Thou art cast out of thy Grave, like
an abominable Branch; and as the Raiment of those that are slain, thrust
thro’ with a Sword; and shall go down to the Stones of the Pit, as a
Carcass trodden under Foot. Thou shalt not be join’d with thy Fathers in
Burial._ That is, he should want all the Honours of Sepulture, and all
such Funeral Rites as were to have been paid to him as a most potent
King, and that he should not be admitted to lye in the Grave amongst his
Ancestors, but that his Corps should remain neglected above Ground
unbury’d, and be trodden to pieces like vile Carrion.
[Sidenote: And the Judgment of GOD.]