inferiour to the Angels themselves, being made after GOD’s own Image;
for his Use all other Creatures were made and put in Subjection to him:
He alone was endu’d with a Rational and Immortal Soul, a beautiful
Symmetry of Body, an Angelic Form, and a Countenance erect to Admire and
Worship his Creator. The inquisitive Anatomist can never sufficiently
investigate the noble Contrivance of his Organs; the profoundest
Naturalist give Reasons for, or the most exquisite Mathematician pretend
to imitate so Divine a Mechanism. Here’s a Subject of Contemplation for
a Divine, or of a Psalm for the Royal Prophet, to shew how wonderfully
Man is form’d and crown’d with Glory and Honour, to live for ever and
not see Corruption: [Sidenote: His _Transgression_] But alass! of how
short duration was this happy State? He was no sooner plac’d in
Paradise, than, being puff’d up with Pride, he grew disobedient and
transgress’d; so that his Happiness was immediately chang’d into a
Curse, _That all his Days should be but Trouble and Sorrow, and he at
length return to the Dust from whence he was taken_. Thus the latter
part of _Adam_’s Curse was, that he should die and moulder away,
whereas, had he not transgress’d, his Body had probably never been
destroy’d, but translated. He would not then have undergon either Death
or Corruption, nor would his Body have suffer’d so long a Separation
from his Soul; for in that State the Body was no less pure than the
Soul, it was every way to be admir’d, honour’d and esteem’d. It was, in
a word, nam’d _The Temple of GOD_, but thro’ Sin Man was curst with
Sickness and Infirmities whilst alive, and lastly, with Death, the
shamefullest Reproach, thereby to suffer the Corruption of the Grave,
and be Food to the vilest Reptiles of the Earth. Now as the Body was
once pure as well as the Soul, so is the Soul by Sin contaminated and
defil’d as well as the Body, both being made liable to Corrupt and
Putrifie thro’ the Curse of Death, and to be like the Beasts of the
Field which perish Eternally.
[Sidenote: And _Redemption_.]
But GOD, out of his infinite Love and Mercy to Mankind, sent his blessed
Son as a Redeemer, to make Atonement for Man’s Original Sin, whereby the
Curse of his Transgression was wip’d away, and Victory over Death and
the Grave obtain’d. Again, As GOD has appointed as a Blessing,
Physicians for curing Diseases, that Man might enjoy a tolerable state
of Health, till remov’d from this Life, so has he in Death likewise
given them a Knowledge to preserve them Incorruptible, which is the
promis’d Blessing, 1 _Cor._ 15. that tho’ our Flesh be Corruptible, yet
shall it put on Incorruption (by _Embalming_) and tho’ we are Mortal and
die, yet shall we become Immortal, and so both Death and Sin be
conquer’d by Life Eternal. Now this may as well be understood in a
Literal Sense, agreeable to our Subject, as in a Spiritual one;
[Sidenote: _Embalm’d Bodies_ Sleep ’till the _Resurrection_.] for Bodies
Embalm’d as aforesaid, seem not to be dead, but only asleep, waiting for
the Resurrection. For this Reason the _Hebrews_ call’d their
Burying-Places _Houses of the Living_, and the _Christians_ nam’d theirs
_Dormitories_ or _Sleeping-Places_, p. 17. where Bodies rest in their
Tombs as in their Beds. _Non Mortua, sed data Somno_, says _Prudentius_.
_Their Bodies are not dead, but asleep_; for Death to _Christians_ is
but Sleeping, and Sleeping Rest, out of which they hope and expect to be
awak’d at the joyful Day of Resurrection, well knowing it is no more
difficult with GOD to raise them from Death than Sleep; so that to them
Death is but as it were a mute _Interludium_ to the Resurrection, a
Cessation of Labour and Action, and differs from Life only in Motion and
Speech: [Sidenote: _Death_ compar’d to _Sleep_.] For this Reason Death
is rightly compar’d to Sleep, as being a Refreshment during the Night of
this World, till the Morning of the next. Thus _Jesus_ told the
By-Standers, _Matth._ 9. 24. _The Maid is not dead, but sleepeth_. _And
that Lazarus_ (who was _Embalm’d_ and restor’d to Life again) _slept_,
John 11. 11. which the better to explain he afterwards told them he was
dead, _ver._ 14. It is also written of the Martyr St. _Stephen_ that he
fell asleep, _Acts_ 7. 60. See also _Dan._ 12. 2. and 1 _Thess._ 4. 13.
and this way of speaking was more especially us’d in the Old Testament,
as I have already observ’d, _p._ 36. _Prudentius_’s Hymn _Ad Galli
Cantum_, p. 30. and that _Ante Somnum_, p. 46. excellently well compare
Death to Sleep, Sleep to Death, and Waking to the Resurrection. _Sleep_,
says Sir _Thomas Brown_ in his _Religio Medici_, p. 43. _is so like
Death, that I dare not trust it without my Prayers, and an half Adieu to
the World, taking my Farewel in this Colloquy with GOD_:
The Night is come, like to the Day,
Depart not Thou, Great GOD, away;
Let not my Sins, black as the Night,
Eclipse the Lustre of thy Light;
Keep still my Horizon, for to me
The Sun makes not the Day but Thee.
Thou, whose Nature cannot sleep,
On my Temples Centry keep;
Guard me ’gainst those watchful Foes,
Whose Eyes are open while mine close.
Let no Dreams my Head infest,
But such as _Jacob_’s Temples blest:
While I rest my Soul advance,
Make my Sleep a Holy Trance,
That I may, my Rest being wrought,
Awake into some Pious Thought,
And with as active Vigour run
My Course, as does the nimble Sun.
Sleep is Death, O make me try,
By sleeping, what it is to die;
And as gently lay my Head
In my Grave as on my Bed.
Howe’er I rest, Great GOD, let me
Awake again at last to Thee.
And thus assur’d behold I lye
Securely, or to wake or die.
These are my drowsie Days, in vain
I now do wake to sleep again:
O come that Hour when I shall never
Sleep no more, but wake for ever.
_This is the Dormitive I take to Bedward_, says my Author, _I need no
better Hypnotic to make me sleep; after which I close mine Eyes in
Security, content to take my leave of the Sun, and to sleep ’till the
Resurrection_.
Now what this Learn’d Author says of _Sleep_, the same may be said of
_Embalming_; for this Art prevents the Corruption of the Grave, so that
the Body will remain entire, and as it were asleep in its Bed, ’till
awak’d by the last Trumpet to a joyful Resurrection, _where in its Flesh
it shall see GOD_, Job 19. 26. and become Spiritual and Immortal. Hereby
Death has no more Power over us than a long Sleep, which refreshes us
from our Labours, and makes us arise in that Everlasting Morning
unweary’d and undefil’d to enjoy a perfect State of Bliss for ever.
Besides, this Benefit accrues from seeing Bodies thus preserv’d, that
Men are thereby put in mind of that most desirable and delectable
Mystery of the Resurrection. [Sidenote: _Embalming_ an Emblem of the
_Resurrection_.] _So we also that employ our Time and Labour in_
Embalming, says _Gabriel Clauder in Methodo Balsamandi_, p. 11. _have
before our Eyes, as it were in a Looking-Glass, a Præludium and Argument
of the Resurrection, a Symbol of our Future Integrity, and Testimony of
our Faith of the hoped for Incorruptibility and Everlasting Eternity_.
The _Pagans_ themselves were not without some Hopes of this nature, as
appears from the extraordinary Care they bestow’d on their Sepulchres
and _Embalmings_. Very remarkable is the civiliz’d Sepulture of the
antient Inhabitants of _Teneriffe_, who Embalm’d their Dead with
singular Art, and afterwards plac’d them in deep Caves in several
Postures, such as standing, lying, sitting, _&c._ These Burying-Places
they look on only as Dormitories, and rarely admit any one without leave
to go into them, seeming as tho’ they would not have them disturb’d.
The Inhabitants of a Country call’d _Zeilan_, as _Aria Montanus_
relates, do not bury their Dead, but _Embalm_ them with various
Aromatics, which done, they dress them in fine Cloaths, and afterwards
set them on Benches, according to their distinct Families and Quality,
whereby they appear as if alive, and any one may there know his Father,
Grandfather, Great Grandfather, or any other of his Predecessors or
Family to a long extent of Time. Much the same is reported of some of
the _Chineses_, _Laplanders_, _West-Indians_, _Egyptians_ and others, of
whom we shall give a full account in their proper Places. Now if the
_Heathens_, who either did not believe, or would not own the
Resurrection of the Flesh, were so careful in _Embalming_ their Dead,
much less are we to neglect it, who wait the Resurrection of our frail
Bodies, and expect when they shall become Incorruptible, Spiritual and
Immortal, eternally enjoying the most perfect state of Bliss and
Happiness: Besides, we _Christians_ ought to esteem _Embalming_ a pious
Work, [Sidenote: Acceptable to GOD.] acceptable to GOD, because it frees
us from that Corruption which he so much detests, and has so often
pronounc’d and threatn’d as his severest Judgment, _p._ 38, 39. GOD
Almighty has many Times permitted Mankind as well as Brutes and
Vegetables, so to petrifie without any Human Help or Assistance, as to
remain for ever free from Putrefaction or Corruption, and sometimes has
effected the same preservation of the Bodies of the Faithful, without
any manifest alteration, but only a little attenuation or dryness, and
that without any ill Savour. Thus the Bodies of several Martyrs and Holy
Men have been found in most Ages, especially those in the _Kiovian
Cryptæ_ or Vaults, which _Herbinius_ describes, and looks on as an
Instance of GOD’s Love, and Reward of their Piety and Virtues; Why
therefore should we think _Embalming_, or the artificial Preserving of
Bodies, either displeasing to GOD or unbecoming a _Christian_, since we
have so many Instances and Examples to the contrary? The Scriptures
testifie that GOD’s antient People the _Hebrews_ _embalm’d_ their Dead,
and that the Patriarchs _Jacob_ and _Joseph_ were both _embalm’d_; so
also _Joseph_ of _Arimathæa_ and _Nicodemus_, following the Footsteps of
their Ancestors, honour’d the Body of our _Saviour_ with _Embalming_.
This GOD Almighty was pleas’d to permit, because, as _David_ says, _He
would not suffer his Holy One to see Corruption_, Psal. 16. 10. Now as
Christ was bury’d to shew he was really dead, so was he _embalm’d_ in
order to his Resurrection; and as his Holy Body was no ways defil’d with
Original Sin, so also thro’ the special Privilege bestow’d on it by GOD,
was it exempt from the Laws of Corruption. Now this is moreover
remarkable, that before our _Saviour_ was born for the Redemption of
Mankind, lost by _Adam_’s Transgression, GOD shew’d a more than ordinary
Instance of his Love to Man, by the preservation of Holy _Enoch_ and
_Elijah_, both who, had they been bury’d, [Sidenote: _Enoch_ and
_Elijah_ neither dy’d nor corrupted.] must of consequence corrupted
under that Curse, _Gen._ 3. 19. wherefore that they might not undergo
those Alterations there threatn’d, _viz._ Death and Corruption, GOD
Almighty translated them: These two with our _Saviour_ are the only
Instances of a visible Ascention, and who suffer’d no Corruption.
[Sidenote: _Embalming_ approv’d by our _Saviour_.]
To these Reasons we may add what Christ himself witnesses, that he was
so far from being displeas’d at the _Embalming_ his Body, that he chid
those about him, when they were angry at the Womans pouring such
precious Nard Ointment on his Head, which, as they alledg’d, might have
better been sold for more than Three Hundred Pence (about 10 _l._ of our
Mony) and given to the Poor, _Mark_ 14. 6, 8, 9. _Jesus said, let her
alone, why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good Work on me, she is
come aforehand to anoint my Body to the Burial. Verily I say unto you,
wheresoever this Gospel shall be preach’d throughout the whole World,
this also that she hath done shall be spoken of, for a Memorial of her._
In a word, this _Art_ of _Embalming_ is sufficiently warranted both by
the Old and New Testament, and equally celebrated by _Jewish_,
_Christian_ and _Heathen_ Writers.
Having now done with my Theological Arguments, I shall next proceed to
vindicate the _Art_ of _Embalming_ by some Physical and Political
Reasons. _First_ then, [Sidenote: _Embalming_, in a general Sense, very
Extensive.] If we take this Art in a general Sense of preserving the
Memory of Man, as well as his Body, we shall find it very Extensive and
Infinite, since both the Industry and Ingenuity of the Ancients have not
only sought after the surest Means of effecting this, but likewise
invented and contriv’d whatever else might preserve the Body, transmit
its Name to Posterity, and Fame to Eternity. Some have for this end
erected Pyramids, Obelisks, Columns, Temples, Statues and a thousand
other Things, whereby they imagin’d they might secure their Names from
Oblivion; whereas others thought Poems, Epigrams, Epitaphs and such like
Writings were the best and securest Monuments. [Sidenote: _Writings_
thought the best _Monuments_.] Of this Opinion was _Horace_, who, at the
end of his Third Book, thus boasts of his Works:
_Exegi Monumentum Ære perennius,
Regaliq; situ Pyramidum altius:
Quod non Imber edax, non Aquilo impotens
Possit diruere, aut innumerabilis
Annorum series, & Fuga Temporum.
Non omnis moriar, multaq; Pars mei
Vitabit Libitinam._——
A Monument, more lasting far than Brass,
I’ve rais’d, which Pyramids shan’t in height surpass:
Nor fretting Showers, nor blustring Winds deface,
Nor flights of Years and Hours, tho’ numberless, shall raze.
I shall not die whilst thus my better Part
Avoids the Grave.——
In like manner _Ovid_ gives an endless date to himself, and his
_Metamorphosis_ in these Words:
_Jamq; Opus exegi: quod nec Jovis Ira, nec Ignis,
Nec poterit Ferrum, nec edax abolere Vetustas.
Cum volet illa Dies, quæ nil nisi Corporis hujus
Jus habet, incerti Spatium mihi finiat Ævi:
Parte tamen meliore mei super alta perennis
Astra ferar; Nomenq; erit indelibile nostrum.
Quaq; patet domitis Romana Potentia Terris,
Ore legar Populi; perq; omnia secula Fama
(Si quid habent veri Vatum Præsagia) vivam._
And now the Work is finish’d, which _Jove_’s Rage,
Nor Fire, nor Sword shall hurt, nor eating Age.
Come when it will my Death’s uncertain Hour,
Which only o’er my Body can have Power;
My better Part shall far transcend the Skie,
And my Immortal Name shall never die:
For wheresoe’er the _Roman_ Eagles spread
Their conquering Wings, I shall of all be read;
And if we Prophets truly can Divine,
I, in my deathless Fame, shall ever shine.
Both these Poetical Flourishes may be esteem’d a kind of _Embalming_
their Authors Actions and Names; for as the aforesaid historical
Structures preserve and record our Actions, so are our Thoughts and
Sayings _embalm’d_ as it were by Writings. [Sidenote: _Fame_ the
_Goddess_ of _Embalming_.] In this respect _Fame_ may not improperly be
call’d the _Goddess_ and _Patroness_ of _Embalming_, and _Mercury_ her
chief Minister to proclaim to the World the Heroic Acts of Memorable and
Famous Men: Thus all Things intended to preserve a Name, whether
Pictures, Statues, Medals, Buildings or Writings, may be comprehended
under this general Sense of _Embalming_; nevertheless, experience
teaches us the preservation of a Body by the _Balsamic Art_ is not only
the best way of reviving Mens Memories, and bringing their Merits fresh
in our Minds, but also the most durable, [Sidenote: _Embalming_ the most
durable Thing.] for not only Tombs and Statues have decay’d in a few
Years, but also whole Towns and Cities have been ruin’d and demolish’d
within the Revolution of an Age, and that so, as hardly to have one
Stone left to witness what they have been; whereas _Embalm’d_ Bodies
have been found entire after Thousands of Years. Neither is _Embalming_
to be commended only for its Duration, [Sidenote: Useful in _Philosophy_
and _Physic_.] but likewise for its great Use in _Phisiology_, _Natural
Philosophy_ and _Physic_, as we have hinted before, _p._ 2, 3, 4. In
that we thereby know how to conserve all sorts of Herbs, Juices, _&c._
keep all kinds of Flesh and Fish, and preserve all sorts of Plants, rare
Exotics, and such like Curiosities.
[Sidenote: In _Anatomy_.]
_Embalming_ is likewise particularly useful in _Anatomy_, inasmuch as it
teaches how Bodies may be preserv’d, that the most minute Parts may be
Dissected, and such Preparations made as will remain to Posterity, and
serve instead of Books, Sculptures or Pictures, by which the Disposition
of the Human Fabric may be more accurately distinguish’d, and the Names
and Uses of the Parts easier retain’d in our Memories.
[Sidenote: In _Surgery_.]
It is also particularly useful to _Physicians_ and _Surgeons_, _First_,
In that by opening such Bodies, they may presently see the Nature and
Cause of Diseases. And, _Secondly_, by understanding what _Fermentation_
and _Putrefaction_ are, together with the Virtues and Qualities of
_Embalming_-Drugs that prevent and resist them, they may be better able
to cure malignant Feavers, Mortifications, _&c._ See _p._ 3, 4. for no
sooner is there a Separation of the Soul from the Body, but an immediate
tendency to Putrefaction follows: The florid colour of the Face
vanishes, the Belly swells, the Entrails turn green and fœtid, and the
extreme Parts become shrivel’d and contracted; when we may well cry out,
_Quantum mutatus ab illo!_ So suddain an Alteration ensues without a
previous _Balsamation_. What obdurate Hearts and pitiless Eyes can then
bear such a miserable Object, when _Embalming_ so easily prevents it, by
rendring the Body sweet and decorous, retaining still its natural Form,
Feature and Shape? Again, if we consider the natural and innate Desire
most People have of being bury’d in their own Tombs and Countries,
[Sidenote: Necessary for _Transporting Bodies_.] we shall find there is
a necessity of _Embalming_ such Bodies, the better to convey those that
die in Foreign Parts to their Native Soil. Thus _Jacob_ and _Joseph_
were transported from _Egypt_ to _Canaan_, whereas, had their Bodies not
been _embalm’d_, they must necessarily have corrupted in their Journey;
but as for the _Greeks_ and _Romans_, who were not well acquainted with
this Art, they were forc’d to burn such Bodies as dy’d abroad, and were
contented only to bring home their Ashes, which _Ovid_ seems so very
desirous of in the following Verses:
_Ossa tamen facito parva referantur in Urna,
Sic Ego non etiam Mortuus, Exul ero._
Let but my Country have my Funeral-Urn,
And after Death, tho’ exil’d, I’ll return.
Now certainly they would have thought it much better to have brought
over the whole Body than part of it, had they been but skillful enough
to have _embalm’d_ it; for there is no other difference between
Incineration and Putrefaction, than length of Time, therefore both are
equally to be avoided. Nay, some of the _Heathens_ themselves have
judg’d it an Impiety towards the Dead, either to commit them to the
Fire, or to Worms and Corruption, therefore they endeavour’d, as much as
in them lay, to _Embalm_ and Preserve them thereby from both. Now
nothing is more evident, than that those who intend to preserve a Body
entire, ought neither to burn nor bury it, but keep it in a proper
Repository, contriv’d to resist the Injuries of Time and Weather, and
which is neither expos’d nor obnoxious to Putrefaction.
To Conclude, _Embalming_ not only prevents the Plague and Putrefaction,
and consequently frees from the Terror and Deformity of Death, _page_ 9,
11, 12. [Sidenote: Secures from the Insults of Animals, _&c._] but
likewise defends and secures dead Bodies from Insults of Brutes and
Insects, by reason of its bitter ungrateful Taste: Yet considering the
antient Way of the _Egyptians_ by rowling, and the modern by wrapping up
in Cerecloaths, so obscure the Object, and also are so imperfect on
several other Accounts; I have endeavour’d to shew a possibility of
inventing a Method, how to preserve the whole _Compages_ of the Body for
ever without Putrefaction, in such manner, that its Texture and
Structure may remain entire, of the same Proportion as before, and of
the same Colour and Flexibility, without any visible contraction,
diminution or unconformity of the Parts whereby the dead Corps may be
handled by the _Anatomists_ without any offensive Smell or fastidious
_Mador_. St. _Jerome_, in _Epitaph. Paul. Eustoch._ speaks thus of
_Paulina_ a _Roman_ Lady, _Quodq; mirum sit nihil Pallor mutaverit
Faciem, sed ita Dignitas quædam omnia compleverat, ut putares non
mortuam sed dormientem_. _And what is wonderful, Paleness had not in the
least alter’d her Countenance, but Majesty was so preserv’d_ (_by_
Embalming) _in every Feature, that you would not have thought her dead
but asleep_. Thus to preserve any heroic Prince or great General, any
noted Professor of some Science or Faculty, _&c._ would sure be a finer
sight than their _Effigies_ in Wax, and withal be as durable as their
Tomb in Marble. I say, if we can arrive at this Perfection, without
Exenteration or Incision, so as to preserve a dead Body after the manner
aforesaid, it were reasonable to believe it would not only less terrifie
all scrupulous Persons, but likewise be of greater Use to the Common
Wealth. Yet least I should fail herein, it being an unbeaten Path, I
presume thro’ your Conduct and Guidance, that whilst I am endeavouring
to find it out, you will neither suffer me to lose my self, nor lead
others out of the Way. This is my only fear (well knowing too many
Examples of those that in making new Discoveries have Shipwreck’d
themselves) and the principal Request of,
_SIR_,
_Your most Obedient_
_Humble Servant_,
Thomas Greenhill.
[Illustration:
TO
HIS GRACE
_WRIOTHESLY_
DUKE of BEDFORD
Who has been pleas’d to encourage this Work,
This MAP OF EGYPT &c, _is dutyfully inscrib’d by his_ Graces _most
obliged_ Surgeon _and humble servant_
Tho. Greenhill.
]
THE
Art of Embalming.
LETTER II.
_To Dr._ John Lawson, _sometime President of the College of
Phisicians_, London.
SIR,
As your Knowledge in the _Coptic_ or antient _Egyptian_ Language, in the
_Arabic_ and _Oriental_ Tongues, as likewise your extraordinary Skill
both in _Phisic_ and _Philology_, best testifie you to be the fittest
Judge of an Art of such Antiquity as _Embalming_; so your favourable
Approbation of my Notions herein, has encourag’d me to endeavour finding
out the true Progress and exact Method of practising that Art. In order
hereunto I first think it not amiss to give a short Geographical
Description of the Kingdom of _Egypt_, as also to take notice of the
Salubrity of its _Air_ and _Water_, [Sidenote: What to be consider’d as
relating to _Embalming_.] Fertility of its _Soil_, and Sagacity of its
_Inhabitants_, together with several necessary Remarks on their
_Religion_, _Customs_, _Arts_, _Diseases_ and _Phisic_, nay, whatever
else may tend to the right Understanding of this Noble but lost Art.
Tho’ _Embalming_ be the chiefly intended Scope of this Letter, yet
considering the _Egyptians_ have been always allow’d the first Inventors
of Arts and Sciences, and that this particular manner of _Embalming_ was
at first us’d by them only, it may be requisite to consider every
particular circumstance of Time and Place, the several Drugs, Plants,
Minerals and other Advantages which accru’d to them beyond other
Nations, and likewise to inquire into the Reasons which induc’d them to
study this Art, as also by what means and after what manner they came to
find it out.