the corpse to the place where it was to be burnt: amongst people of
fortune, the bier, or coffin, was generally carried by relations: and
at the funerals of Emperors and Consuls; the Senators, and Magistrates
of the Republic did this office; but the common people were carried by
Vespillones, or common bearers. When persons of high blood, or who were
eminent for posts in government, or remarkable actions, were brought
to the pile, the distinctions of their quality were carried before the
coffin, as the consular fasces, the sword and mace, their ancestors
in wax work, the plunder they had gained upon the enemy, the civic,
mural, &c. crowns which they had deserved, and every thing else that
might add to their figure. Servius observes, that in the beginning of
the Republic, they buried their dead in their houses: but by a law
of the twelve tables, it was forbidden either to bury, or burn any
corpse within the city of Rome; but afterwards, the vestal virgins, and
Emperors had a privilege of exception; as for other people they were
either interred in the highways, or in their ground, out of the town.
At the burning of the corpse, they laid it fast upon a pile of wood,
of pines, yew, and other resembling trees, which lay one upon another
in the figure of an altar. The corpse being dressed, and sprinkled with
rich liquors, lay in a coffin, made on purpose, with his face upwards,
and a piece of silver in his mouth to pay Charon for his fare. The
pile was surrounded with cypress, an embalm of grief and death; after
this some of the nearest relations, turning their back to the pile,
set fire to it with a torch, which they held behind them; and the fire
being lighted, they threw in the clothes, arms, and other rich goods,
which the deceased person had the greatest fancy for. When the corpse
was burnt, they wetted the bones and the ashes with milk and wine, and
then put them into an urn, which they buried in a sepulchre for that
purpose. Before this urn, they set a little altar, where they burnt
perfumes.
Their mourning lasted ten months, which was Romulus’s year; but it was
possible to shorten this term by some public success of the state, or
any extraordinary good fortune, which happened to a private family.
_Account of the opening of the Tomb of King Edward_ I. _in Westminster
Abbey, 467 years after its Interment._
The following interesting account of the effect produced by the mode
of preservation, which, for many centuries, has been made use of upon
the bodies of royal personages, will it is presumed, be found not
unacceptable to our readers. It is extracted from Sir Joseph Ayloffe’s
account of the opening of the Tomb of Edward the First, in Westminster
Abbey 467 years after its interment. After describing the manner of
opening the tomb and coffin, which was done with the utmost care, in
the presence of the Reverend Doctor Thomas, then Dean of Westminster,
two of the prebends, and the President of the Antiquarian Society, the
writer says,
“On lifting up the lid, the royal corpse was found wrapped up within a
large square mantle of strong, course, and thick linen cloth, diapered,
of a dull, pale, yellowish brown colour, and waxed on its under side.”
The head and face were entirely covered with a sudarium, or face cloth,
of crimson sarsenet, the substance whereof was so much perished, as to
have a cobweb-like face, and the appearance of fine lint. The sudarium
was formed into three folds. When the folds of the external wrapper
were thrown back, and the sudarium removed, the corpse was discovered,
richly habited, adorned with ensigns of royalty, and almost entire,
notwithstanding the length of time that it had been entombed. Its
innermost covering seemed to have been a very fine linen cerecloth,
dressed close to every part of the body, and superinduced with such
accuracy and exactness, that the fingers and thumbs of both the hands
had each of them a separate and distinct envelope of that material. The
face, which had a similar covering, closely fitted thereto, retained
its exact form, although part of the flesh appeared to be somewhat
wasted. It was of a dark brown, or chocolate colour, approaching to
black, as were the hands and fingers. The chin and lips were entire,
but without any beard; and a sinking or dip, between the chin and
underlip, was very conspicuous. Both the lips were prominent, the nose
short, as if shrunk; but the apertures of the nostrils were visible.
There was an unusual fall, or cavity, on that part of the bridge of
the nose which separates the orbits of the eyes; and some globular
substance, possibly the fleshy part of the eye-balls, was moveable
in their sockets, under the envelope. Below the chin, and under jaw,
was lodged a quantity of black dust, which had neither smell nor
coherence; but, whether the same had been flesh or spices, could not
be ascertained. One of the joints of the middle finger of the right
hand was loose, but those of the left hand were quite perfect. The
corpse, from the waist downward, was covered with a large piece of
rich figured cloth of gold, which was loose over the lower part of the
tunic, thighs, legs and feet, and tucked down behind the soles of the
latter. There did not remain any appearance of gloves; but, on the
back of each hand, and just below the knuckle of the middle finger,
lay a _quatre-soil_, of the same metal as those in the stole (i.e. of
fillagree work, in metal gilt, elegantly chased in figure.) The feet,
with their toes, soles, and heels, seemed to be perfectly entire; but,
whether they have sandals on them, or not, is uncertain, as the cloth
tucked over them was not removed. On measuring the body by a rod,
quadrated into inches, divided into quarters, it appeared to be exactly
six feet and two inches in length.
_The following remarkable fact is translated from the Imperial Gazette
of Petersburg, dated December 17th, 1798._
“In 1796, a coffin was found at the Convent of Sumovin, in the city
of Trotma, in the eparchy of Volgoda, containing a corpse, in the
habit of a Monk. It had been interred in 1568, yet was in a state of
perfect preservation, as were also the garments. From the letters
embroidered on them, it was found to be the body of the most memorable
Feodose Sumovin, founder and superior of the Convent, and who had
been acknowledged as a saint during his life, for the miracles he had
performed.”
The Emperor Paul, on hearing this report caused the following
proclamation to be issued.
“We Paul, &c. having been certified by a special report of the _most
holy synod_, of the discovery that has been made in the Convent of
Spasso Sumovia, of the miraculous remains of the most venerable
Feodose, which miraculous remains distinguish themselves by the happy
care of all those who have recourse to them with _entire confidence_,
we take the discovery of these holy remains as a _visible sign_, that
the Lord has cast his most gracious eye in the most _distinguished
manner_ on our reign. For this reason, we offer our fervent prayers and
our gratitudes to the Supreme Dispenser of all things, and charge our
_most holy_ synod to announce this _memorable discovery_ throughout all
our empire, according to the forms prescribed by the _holy_ church, and
by the _holy_ fathers, &c. the _28th_, September 1798.”
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
DANGER OF BURYING IN CHURCHES
AND
_CONFINED CHURCH-YARDS_.
It is to be feared that the ancients had juster and more rational
ideas, relative to the disposal of the dead, than the moderns seem in
general to possess. The cemeteries in populous and crowded cities are,
for the most part, not only offensive, but destructive, and engender
diseases. Quiet, remote, and unfrequented places, if properly secured,
are certainly the most suitable for the purposes of interment. The
practice of burying in churches, or near them, has not the least
foundation in holy writ; on the contrary, we know, that under the
Mosaic dispensation, the bodies of the dead were considered as a
pollution to the priest and the altar; and the custom which prevails at
present, was introduced by the Romish clergy, who pretended that the
defunct enjoyed great and peculiar privileges by having their remains
deposited in consecrated ground.
The Germans have begun to remove the burying-place a mile or two from
every city or town, by which means they have abolished, or paved the
way towards abolishing, all the nonsensical epitaphs and laughable
inscriptions, which generally abound in church-yards, and too often
disgrace the memory they mean to celebrate; and have substituted for
the offensive cemetery an agreeable kind of garden, more calculated to
inspire calm devotions than sentiments of horror.
_Vide Render’s Tour through Germany._
* * * * *
In the voyages and travels of Dr. Hasselquist, a Swedish physician, he
observes, concerning burials in churches and towns: “The burying places
of the Turks are handsome and agreeable, which is owing chiefly to the
many fine plants that grow in them, and which they carefully place over
their dead. The Turks are much more consistent than the Christians,
when they bury their dead without the town, and plant over them such
vegetables as by their aromatic smell can drive away the fatal odours
with which the air is filled in such places. I am persuaded that
by this they escape many misfortunes which affect Christians from
wandering and dwelling continually among the dead.”
* * * * *
The great Sir Matthew Hale was always very much against burying in
churches, and used to say, “_that churches were for the living, and the
church-yards for the dead_.” He himself was interred in the church-yard
of Alderley, in Gloucestershire.
* * * * *
In Mold church, in Flintshire, is an epitaph on Dr. William Wynne,
written by himself; in which are these words:
In conformity to an ancient usage,
From a proper regard to decency,
And a concern for the health
of his fellow-creatures,
He was moved to give particular directions for being buried in the
adjoining church-yard,
“and not in the church.”
* * * * *
In 1776, The king of France prohibited the burying in churches.
* * * * *
“Two respectable correspondents,” observes a writer, in one of the
early volumes of the Monthly Magazine, have very properly censured and
exposed the indecency, and even danger, of burying in churches and in
towns. In addition to their remarks and anecdotes, allow me a place, if
you can, for an extract from a very scarce discourse, by that learned
and eminently pious prelate, Joseph Hall, preached at Exeter, August
the 24th, 1637, on the consecration of a new burial place. The text,
which is very applicable, and admirably elucidated, is Genesis, the
23rd chapter, 19th and 20th verses.--“And after this, Abraham buried
Sarah his wife in the cave of the field Machpelah, before Mamre, the
same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that
is therein, were made sure to Abraham for a possession of a burying
place by the sons of Heth.”
* * * * *
After making several pertinent observations on the subject, the
excellent Bishop says: “Hitherto that there must be a meet place,
a place fixed and designed for the burial of the dead; now let us a
little look into the choice of the place; it was a field, and a cave
in that field; a field not _sub-tecto_, but _sub-dio_; a field before
Mamre, a city that took its name from the owner, Abraham’s assistant
in his war; before it, not in it; and indeed both these are fit and
exemplary: it was the ancientest and best way that sepultures should
be without the gates of the city; hence you find that our Saviour met
the bier of the widow’s son as he was carried out of the gates of Nain
to his burial; and hence of old was wont to be that proclamation of
the Roman funerals, _allus cefertur feras_. And we find that Joseph of
Arimathea, had his private burial place in his garden without the City,
(for it was near to Calvary) and so was Lazarus, his sepulchre without
Bethany. Our Saviour staid in the field, till the sisters came forth to
him, and the neighbours came forth after them: so they went together to
the sepulchre. And certainly much might be said to this purpose for the
convenience of our funerals, without respect of those Jewish grounds,
who held a kind of impurity in the corpses of the dead; but that
which might be said, is rather out of matter of wholesomness and civil
considerations, than out of the grounds of theology. In time, this rite
of burial, did so creep within the walls, that it insinuated itself
into churches, yea, into the Holy of Holies,--Choirs, and chancels,
near unto the holy table, God’s evangelical altar; but I must tell you,
this custom hath found entertainment only in the Western churches, that
is, those that were of correspondence with the Roman; for the Greek
church allows no such practice, and the Roman at first admitted it very
sparingly, so as (_elim episcopi, et alii principes sépelie bantur in
ecclesia_) none but princes and bishops (as Martinus Vivaldus) were
of old interred in churches; afterwards the privileges grew larger,
to other eminent benefactors into the church, and none but them: and
now that it is grown so common, both in our churches and the Roman,
we may thank partly superstition, partly ambition and covetousness;
superstition of them that think the holiness of the place doth not a
little avail the soul; ambition of those that love these (πρωτοκλισιας)
both living and dead: covetousness of those greedy hucksters of the
church of Rome, who upon the sale of their suffrages, raise the prices
of their holy ground to their unreasonable advantages. But to speak
freely, what I think concerning this so common practice, I must need
say, I cannot but hold it very unfit and inconvenient, both, first in
respect of the majesty, it is the Lord’s House, the palace of the King
of Heaven; and what prince would have his court made a charnel-house?
How well soever we loved our deceased friends, yet when their life
is dissolved, there is none of us but would be loath to have their
corpses inmates with us in our houses; and why should we think fit
to offer that to God’s house which we should be loath to endure in
our own.--Secondly, in regard of the annoyance of the living; for the
air (kept close within walls) arising from dead bodies, must needs be
offensive, as we find by daily experience, more offensive now than of
old to God’s people: they buried with odours, the fragrancy whereof was
a good antidote for this inconvenience; (“she did this to bury me,”
saith our Saviour). Not so with us; so as the air receives no other
tincture than what arises from the evaporation of corrupted bodies. But
though I approve not common buryings within the church, as not deeming
that a fit bestowage for the dead; yet forasmuch as the church is a
place of most public resort and use, I cannot mislike that in some meet
parts, whether floors, or pillars, or walls, (especially of the side
chapels pertaining thereto) there be memorials or monuments of worthy
and well deserving Christians, whereby their knowledge and precious
remembrances may be perpetuated to posterity.”
Thus far the worthy Bishop, on this indecent and unwholesome practice:
to which I shall only add (observes the writer) a quotation from Mr.
Strutt, who informs us, “that before the time of Christianity, it was
held unlawful to bury the dead within the cities, but they used to
carry them out into the fields hard by, and there deposit them. Towards
the end of the sixth century, Augustine obtained of king Ethelbert, a
temple of idols, (where the king used to worship before his conversion)
and made a burying place of it; but St Cuthbert afterwards obtained
leave to have _yards_ made to the churches, proper for the reception of
the dead.”
* * * * *
At a funeral in St. Mary’s church, at _Montpellier_, a porter happened
to tumble into the vault, where several corpses had been deposited;
and, not returning again, his brother, who perceived that his candle
had gone out, went down to help him up, but neither did he return,
nor made the least outcry; a third did the like, without uttering a
syllable; at length a fourth, perceiving they were all in the dark,
ventured to be let down by a rope, with a light in his hand, to see
what was the matter. This man finding himself attacked with a noisome
vapour, when he was half way down, begged to be drawn up again, and
upon being let blood, recovered. The other three were hawled out with
hooks fixed to the ends of poles, having no remains of life. The sexton
affirmed that something of the like nature had formerly happened in
another vault. These dead men were in a manner covered over with a wet
mud, whose stench was such, that nobody cared to touch them. A few
days after, (says Mr. de Sauvage, the writer of this account) I went
to the place, and by a line let down cats of different ages, birds
and dogs, about seven feet deep into the vault. The young cats died
convulsed, in about three minutes; the old ones in half a minute,
or less. Lighted flambeaus went out before they were well under the
surface of the ground, as though they had been dipped in water.
In order to examine (observes this gentleman) into the nature of
this vapour, I drew some of it up from the bottom of the vault, in a
glass bucket, as if it had been water; candles were extinguished, and
birds suffocated in it in an instant. If any of it was conveyed into
a phial, an exhalation issued out of the orifice, to which a candle
being applied, it was not extinguished; but if introduced within the
mouth, went out immediately. It was considerably heavier than air, for
if the phial was inclined, the vapour yielded to the position, and
laid horizontally; and if the vapour was poured into another phial,
to whose bottom a bit of lighted wax candle was fixed, it put it out
as soon as it arose as high as the flame. This vapour, after having
been kept in phials, well stopped, for several months, retained its
poisonous quality as strong as at first. Is not this a proof of the
perniciousness of burying vaults in churches, and do not many popular
diseases very probably arise from this filthy custom?
THE
FATAL CONSEQUENCES
Of opening
_TOMBS OR GRAVES TOO SOON_.
The people of Challons upon the Marne, in France, having resolved some
years since, to enlarge the yard or square before their town house, by
adding to it a part of St. Alpin’s church-yard, and for that purpose,
to remove all the bodies lately buried there, were diverted from the
execution of their design, by a dissertation wrote by M. Navier, a
physician and member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, for
shewing the dangerous consequences of opening graves before the bodies
are quite dissolved; and as such practices are too frequent in this
country, it may be of service to lay before the public an abstract of
what this celebrated physician has said upon the subject.
The doctor divides his dissertation into two parts, in the first
of which he describes the several degrees of corruption which a
dead body successively undergoes, and which bring it at last to a
total dissolution. From these principles he concludes, that the
terrible mixture which results from putrefaction, by raising itself
in the form of infectious exhalations, may penetrate even to the
inside of the tender and delicate organs of living bodies, and may
infallibly occasion their destruction. These exhalations will convey
themselves, more or less, into all those who happen to be within their
atmosphere; and our fluids being once impregnated with these virulent
particles, cannot, without difficulty, disentangle themselves, so that
notwithstanding the redoubled efforts of nature, to free itself from
the grasp of such a formidable enemy, multitudes must succumb. The
misfortune resulting from hence, may not confine itself to that short
space of time, during which the air continues infected; for a part of
these corrupting impurities which have passed themselves into living
bodies, may continue there for a long time, and may be communicated to
others, or may lie concealed, even for a considerable time, before they
begin to exert their virulence.
This poison, the doctor observes, may convey itself into living bodies
by more ways than one; for example, through the pores of the skin,
along with the breath we draw, along with our food of any kind, &c.
And to prove that dead bodies must lie a long time buried, in order
to give time to the corrupted particles with which the surrounding
earth is impregnated, to dissipate themselves, or to be entirely
converted into the first elements of matter, he mentions, first, an
interment of several bodies in a church-yard of Challons, in the
year 1724, which, though they had been four years under ground, were
nevertheless very far from being near consumed, and which still
emitted such an infectious stench, that the people could hardly bear
it, notwithstanding the great quantity of incense they kept burning.
Secondly, he mentions the report of several grave-diggers, all of whom
declared, from experience, that it was dangerous to open tombs in less
than four years; and that, by moisture or rain, dead bodies were kept
from being consumed. And, Thirdly, he mentions a fact, of which he
himself was a witness. A grave-digger, in digging a grave, shewed him
the skeletons of three bodies which had been buried one above another,
every one of which had some of the hair and some of the entrails
remaining, and something of a fleshy substance upon the bones, though
the lowermost had been twenty, the second eleven, and the third eight
years under ground.
In the second part, the doctor proposes the methods he thinks most
proper for guarding those who are exposed to the bad air of interments,
from this almost inevitable contagion. He advises the putting them
off as long as possible, as being the most certain: but when extreme
necessity will admit of no delay, he proposes these precautions: The
first, and most essential, consists in making a number of small
trenches in the church-yard, then filling them with unslacked lime, and
taking care to pour upon it a large quantity of water; for the water
being impregnated with the ignious, and absorbing particles of the
lime, penetrates the earth, and the remains of the interred bodies, and
thereby destroys, in whole, or in part, the corrupting impurities. This
operation he advises to renew, more or less, often, in proportion to
the number and condition of the bodies buried in the ground. The second
precaution is, to chuse for the removal the coldest time of the year,
and when the north winds prevail most; and the third, is to make great
fires round the church-yard, to fire cannon, or some other instrument
charged with fulminating powder, at least three or four times a day.
These last methods, says he, have the property of correcting, and
effectually destroying the putrid exhalations with which the air may
still remain impregnated, and of accelerating the currents of air, &c.
The custom of burying in churches, and of depositing the bones of dead
bodies in charnel houses, gives M. Navier occasion to make observations
upon this two fold abuse; and in a second dissertation, which is
a sort of appendix to the first, he, with great reason, declares
against burying in churches, which is too frequently permitted under
the specious pretext of raising thereby a revenue for the support of
the fabrick. He observes, that this custom of burying in churches
was never allowed before the ninth century; and that ever since it
has been allowed, it has, from time to time, produced unfortunate
consequences; several of which he relates, both ancient and modern,
that have happened at Chalons, at Montpelier, at Paris, and in foreign
countries. As the earth which is thrown up by digging new graves, is
impregnated with a great quantity of corrupt particles, conveyed into
it, by the bodies before interred therein. It is not at all surprising,
says he, that such unlucky effects should ensue; for if the bodies of
dead animals left in the open air, often occasion contagious diseases,
though the free air to which they are exposed is continually carrying
off, and, as it were, sweeping away those putrid impurities which
arise from dead bodies, by degrees, as they become corrupted, what
have we not to fear from churches where great numbers of people are
interred? It is these poisoned particles, he adds, with which the
earth is impregnated, that has caused the death of great numbers of
grave diggers, even upon their opening ground where no vestige of any
dead body was to be found; and it is for this reason, that they are
generally obliged to dig a grave at several intervals; for if you
ask them why, they will tell you, that they feel themselves, as it
were suffocated; if they continue at it for any long time; and their
breathing in these infected vapours, is what makes such men generally
but short lived.