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 _Herbinius_ 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_, wherein our
Saviour’s Body was laid, _Matth._ 27. 60.
[Sidenote: _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_ built _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, [Sidenote: 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.
[Sidenote: How adorn’d and with what _Inscriptions_.]
Besides, 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. [Sidenote: 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_. [Sidenote: _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, [Sidenote: _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_, [Sidenote: _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 over their Graves._ [Sidenote:
_Memories_,] They were also call’d _Memories_, _a Memoria_, and
_Monuments_, [Sidenote: _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.
[Sidenote: _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._ [Sidenote:
_Resting-Places._] _Scilicet ubi quiescant condita Corpora._ _Places of
Rest and Quiet for the Dead._ [Sidenote: _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!
See also _pag._ 24.
[Sidenote: _Houses._]
Sometimes they were call’d _Houses_, in that there is no House so much
and truly our own as our Grave, whence _Job_ rightly express’d himself,
_Chap._ 30. _ver._ 23. _I know thou wilt bring me to Death, and to the
House appointed for all Men Living_. Likewise _Chap._ 4. 9. he terms
them _Houses of Clay_, but _Isaiah_ Chap. 14. 18. describes them more
elegantly in these Words, _All the Kings of the Nations lye in Glory,
every one in his own House_. Others gave them still more pompous Titles,
such as _Domus Æterna_, _Domus Æternitatis_, _&c._ for as _Diodorus
Siculus_, Lib. 1. _Bibl. Histor._ relates, The _Egyptians_ accounted the
Houses they liv’d in but as Inns, by reason their stay was so short in
them, whereas they deem’d their Sepulchres more durable and eternal, and
this because they believ’d the Dead were always to abide and continue in
them, so that they took more Care of, and were at far greater Charge
about them than their Houses: Also that these might be the more lasting
and permanent, the Ancients spared no Cost nor Trouble, but with
prodigious Labour and Expence rais’d them out of Marble, Stone, Brass or
the like. The _Æthiopians_ made some of their Monuments of Glass, as
_Herodotus_, Lib. 3. cap. 6. relates in these Words: _Deinde Cippum ei
cavum e Vitro, quod apud illos multum est, & facile effoditur,
circumdant: In ejus medio Mortuus interlucet, ut ab Hominibus conspici
queat, &c._ _Afterwards they enclose him in a Coffin of Glass, which is
plentiful with them and easily dug: In the midst of it the dead Body so
shines, that he may be seen of all._ _Alexander ab Alexandro_, Lib. 6.
_Gen. Dier._, cap. 14. says, The _Egyptians_ had three sorts of
Sepulchres, one of great Expence, which cost a Talent of Silver, another
of 20 _Minæ_, and a third kind of smaller Cost and Value; but the
_Æthiopians_ were more famous for their Monuments, those of the richer
Sort being made of Gold, the middle kind of Silver, and the poorer ones
of Earth.
[Sidenote: _Funeral-Ceremonies_ how and when useful.]
But I fear, Sir, you’ll think I have digress’d too much from my Subject
of _Embalming_, yet what I have said, was in order to shew how far
Funeral-Rites and Ceremonies are useful and allowable, when accompany’d
with this Art, and on the contrary, how vain and ridiculous they are
when us’d without it, especially if they do but in the least exceed the
Bounds of Modesty and Frugality. What tho’ other Ceremonies be perform’d
with the greatest Splendor and Exactness, they can give no other
Satisfaction than the Decency of Burial, or performing perhaps the Will
of the Dead; for the Body will nevertheless stink, corrupt, and it may
be startle the nearest Friend to see it a while after? Then shall his
Bones not be known, nor his Ashes be distinguish’d from another Mans,
nay even from common Earth, so that the parcimonious Heir may well
reflect, how vain and needless it would have been to have bestow’d more
than a decent Expence on his Funeral. Nor does it signifie much which
way the Body be dissolv’d, in regard it comes to the same End without
_Embalming_, and that such Tombs, how splendid soever, are but in effect
_Cenotaphs_ or empty Sepulchres, except that they are full of Stench and
Rottenness: [Sidenote: _Funeral-Expences_ insignificant without
_Embalming_.] We must therefore look upon it as the most extravagant
Vanity to erect Pyramids, Obelisks, Tombs, _&c._ for preserving an empty
airy Name and meer Shadow, while we neglect to keep any Remains of that
noble Workmanship the Body, whereby to distinguish Man from Earth and
Dust. That these Practices are not commendable is plainly prov’d in St.
_Matthew_’s Gospel, _Chap._ 23. 27, 29. where our _Saviour_ describing
Hypocrites, compares them to such Tombs and Sepulchres, in these Words,
_Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites, for ye are like unto
whited Sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful without, but within are
full of dead Mens Bones and all Uncleanness_. That is, the rigid _Jews_
affected plaister’d and whited Sepulchres, in Cadaverous and corrupted
Burials, garnishing their Tombs only outwardly, when within they were
full of Stench and Rottenness: But we shall endeavour to prove, that of
all Funeral-Ceremonies, _Embalming_ is the chief and most useful,
without which, all the rest are but vain, expensive and insignificant
Customs. [Sidenote: Why the Body is to be taken Care of.] We are not
ignorant some may object why the Body should be so much taken Care of,
since by Death there is a separation made of the Soul, that more noble
Part being fled, while the baser only is left. To this we must assent,
that the Body is depriv’d much of its Dignity and Worth by such a
Separation, inasmuch as it is but an ignoble Lump in respect of the
Soul, yet are we not to neglect and despise it, but rather to esteem it
the more for the Souls sake, in that it has once been in a happy State
of conjunction with it, and that it shall again come to be reunited
therewith. The Soul, says _Sandys_, p. 105. knowing it self by Divine
Instinct to be Immortal, does in a manner desire the Body, her belov’d
Companion, may, as far as may be, enjoy the like Felicity with her,
giving by lofty Monuments, and the Duties of Funerals, all possible
Eternity with her. With this _Hen. Salmuth_, _Comment. in Panciroll._
_Pars_ 1. pag. 336. agrees, saying, _Consentaneum est Veritati &
Observantiæ, imo indubitatum est Sapientibus, quædam nobis cognata esse
Semina Immortalitatis; cujus adeo appetentes sumus, ut etiam Sepulturæ
prospiciamus, & nolimus Cadaver nostrum male haberi. Humanum Ingenium
quod Animæ nostræ vis est, cum se sciat Immortale, optat etiam ut Corpus
ipsum quoq; & Comes & Domicilium suum quoad fieri potest eadem
Fælicitate perfruatur._ _It is both agreeable to Truth and Observation,
and not to be doubted by Wise Men, that there are in us some innate
Seeds of Immortality, which we so desirously seek, as to take Care both
of our Sepulture, and that our Carcass be not ill treated. Human
Understanding, which is the Force of the Soul, knowing it self Immortal,
desires also the Body, which is its Companion and Habitation, may enjoy
as much as may be the same Felicity she her self has._ [Sidenote: The
_Soul_ concern’d at the Usage of the _Body_.] For tho’ the Body be not
sensible, yet the Soul which cannot die, mourns sadly when its Companion
is either ill treated or neglected; but on the contrary rejoyces when it
is Honour’d and taken Care of. This _Lucretius_ hints at, where he shews
how Man, who whilst living, knows what will happen after Death, as that
his Body shall corrupt or be devour’d by Birds, Beasts, _&c._ or burn’d
by Fire, commiserates himself for not having been created Immortal, and
consequently departs out of this World regretfully, see _p._ 23. This is
also farther confirm’d by _Julius Cæsar Scaliger_, Lib. 3. _Poetices_,
cap. 20. who says, Altho’ the dead Body neither perceives what Condition
it is in, nor is any longer with the Soul, yet Man when living has a
Sense of all those things his Body must undergo after his Dissolution.
Now if Death were only ceasing to be, act or breath, then were that
State most desirable, inasmuch as Man would then only rest from his
Labours, and be by this means freed from the Troubles and Afflictions of
this Life. Whereas on the contrary to be dissolv’d or to become a Prey
to ravenous Beasts, Birds and Fishes, or an Heritage to Serpents and
Worms, is ungrateful to our Thoughts, miserable to our Sight, and
unpleasant to all our Senses; such a State being not only disagreeable
to our Nature, but also dishonouring and debasing of the Noble Image of
GOD, _pag._ 9. and 10. ’Tis this occasions great sadness of Mind to Man
whilst living, and makes him die the more regretfully: It grieves him
exceedingly to think what a miserable Object of Mortality he is like to
prove after Death, how ugly and deform’d, how offensive to his Friends,
and only fit for the Conversation of such new born Insects and Reptiles
as are bred out of, and live by Stench and Corruption. What a
_Metathesis_ is this! that he who perhaps was born of Royal Blood, and
kept Company with Kings and Princes, shall now cry out with _Job_, 17.
14. _To Corruption, thou art my Father; To the Worm, thou art my Mother
and Sister_. Whereas on the contrary, he who is assur’d of being
_Embalm’d_, and having all other Funeral-Rites perform’d to him, closes
his Eyes in full satisfaction of lying undisturb’d in his Grave, as in
his Bed, and enjoying Eternal Rest. [Sidenote: Therefore the _Body_ is
to be taken Care of.] Besides, other Considerations may induce us to
take Care of the Body; for would you not think it a strange Disgrace for
a Prince to dwell in a Hutt, and his Jewels and other Riches to be laid
up in a Sink of Filthiness? Surely such as the Prince is, such ought to
be the Palace wherein he dwells, and such as are the Jewels, such ought
to be the Cabbinet that contains them. The Soul is the most precious
Thing in this World, and accordingly GOD has enclos’d it with a Cover,
the Body, the most beautifully compos’d next to it that can be; Shall we
despise therefore this Cover, because Death has separated it from the
Soul? No, let us rather esteem it the more, and take the more Care to
preserve it, inasmuch as it has once been the Casket of that noble
Jewel, and is the only Way of representing that Divine Form which GOD
Almighty was pleas’d to impress on it. We may perhaps vainly please our
selves with having the Picture of our deceas’d Friend, which
nevertheless consists but of a few Lights and Shadows, or it may be we
have his Statue, which however wants the natural Complection and Air of
his Person: ’Tis true Pictures or Statues may preserve in our Minds our
Friends Memories, and so in some measure redeem them from the Injuries
of Oblivion, yet will they still but very faintly and imperfectly
represent that Body, to which _Embalming_ gives a real Presence, and
which may at any Time be essay’d by our Senses. _Aristotle_ adds
farther, _Corpore in Putredinem abeunte, nec Anima amare, nec reminisci
potest_. _That the Soul neither remembers nor loves the Body when
Putrify’d_; which is agreeable to the Opinion of the _Egyptians_,
[Sidenote: The _Egyptians_ Belief of a dead Body.] who pleasantly
conceited, that the Soul only left the Body when it was Corrupt and
Putrify’d, as abhorring so loathsome an Habitation; whereas on the
contrary, it never forsook it when it was preserv’d uncorrupt and
entire. For this reason they, with extraordinary Art and Care,
_Embalm’d_ their Dead, that so the Body by the Cleanliness of its
Mansion, by its being deliciously perfum’d and dighted with all the
Aromatic and Odoriferous Spices and Gums of _Arabia_, and in a word, by
its being dress’d in fine Linnen, might court and incline its best
Companion, the Soul, to cohabit with it (_Prov._ 7. 16, 17.) Methinks so
good an Example from Heathens might excite us to take more Care of our
inanimate Part. We are apt enough to respect the Outsides of other
Things, and set a Value on their Insides accordingly; Why therefore
should we not with our utmost Care support our earthly Tabernacle from
the fatal Ruins of Death, that it may thereby continue in one State,
like the _Israelites_ Cloaths, without Wearing or Corrupting, and be
Tenantable at any Time, whenever the Soul shall return to inhabit it
again? Now as we are all desirous of Immortality, so ought we likewise
to be of Eternity.
The desire of Living is as natural as the necessity of Dying inevitable,
and some have spared no means to render themselves Immortal, if Human
Nature could possibly have arriv’d at that State, but finding Death
inexorable and irresistable, they alter’d their Measures by inventing a
thousand ways to perpetuate their Memories after their Dissolution; as
by erecting Pyramids, Obelisks and Monuments of surprizing Magnificence,
on which they engrav’d Inscriptions capable as they thought to resist
Time, and to endure to Eternity. Yet of all Methods us’d to preserve and
perpetuate the Memories of the Dead, [Sidenote: _Embalming_ the best way
of preserving the _Memory_ of the _Dead_.] it may justly be said of
_Embalming_, that that Art has ever been most approv’d by the Polite
Nations, as being undeniably the most considerable and efficacious Means
to answer their Intention. For the utmost Care in erecting Monuments,
_&c._ yields but an obscure and imperfect Idea of the Person deceas’d,
whereas by _Embalming_, that very Person is known to be preserv’d:
Besides, if I may use the Words of Sir _Thomas Brown_ in his
_Hydriotaphia_, _Who knows the Fate of his Bones, or how often he is to
be bury’d? Who has the Oracle of his Ashes, or where they are to be
scatter’d?_ To be dug out of our Graves, have our Skulls made
Drinking-Cups, and our Bones turn’d into Pipes or Dice to delight and
sport our Enemies, shew Juglers Tricks, or divert Gamesters: To have
Drums made of our Skins, to please Children or terrifie in Battel, _&c._
These are tragical Abominations to dying Persons, the Consideration
whereof methinks should occasion us to take more care of our Interment.
Now _Embalming_ prevents all these Things, not the common sort, for that
is equally terrible to some People, but such as is perform’d without
cutting, slashing or Embowelling, which I shall hereafter shew. There
are some indeed who object against all kinds of _Embalming_, and this
because they think them contrary to Scripture and the Fate pronounc’d to
Man, [Sidenote: _Embalming_ not contrary to the _Scriptures_.] _Gen._ 3.
19. but this and all other such like Scruples we shall fully clear, by
examining what Man is, that GOD should be so mindful of him (_Psalm_ 8.
4.) and that notwithstanding his Transgression, he should so love him,
as to be careful of preserving him both in Life and Death.
[Sidenote: _Man’s Elogium._]