BURIAL. 



11 3 



Burial, pnsiu-d 111 the earth, without the usual solemnities.- 

 t those sentiments with regard to the importance 

 of burial, hav- I, in a great measure unim- 



paired, to modern times, proves that they arc deeply 

 implanted in the human breast ; and that, if they be- 

 to the weaknesses of our nature, they art- too 

 universally prevalent, and too firmly rooted, to be 

 easily cradu\itcd by the efforts of philosophy. 



J. Thee icninies observed in burying the dead 

 hav.- \.ir <-d i:i difi'e-rent ages, and among different na- 

 tions. The two mode * of burial chiefly practised by 

 the ancients were cremation and simple interment. 

 Of these, we have already observed, interment, or in- 

 humation, appear? to be of earliest date. The cus- 

 tom of burning, however, is probably very ancient ; 

 and we have several examples of it in the Old Testa- 

 ment scriptures. Saul, we are informed, was burnt 

 at Jabesh, and his bones afterwards buried ; and Asa 

 was burnt in the bed which he had made for himself, 

 filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices. 

 But the practice of burning, we are assured, existed 

 neither in Persia, nor in Egypt : The Persians thought 

 it profane to feed a divinity with carcases ; and the 

 Egyptians abhorred it on another account, being ful- 

 ly persuaded that fire was a voracious animal, which 

 devoured whatever it could seize, and which, when 

 satiated, expired with what it had consumed. Among 

 the Greeks and Romans, the practice of cremation 

 prevailed, but not universally. Both Virgil and Ovid 

 mention the custom of burning as being general be- 

 fore the foundation of Rome. (JEneid, xi. 208. Fast. 

 iv. 853. ) Inhumation, however, Cicero observes, 

 (De Leg. ii. 22.) was preferred by Numa, the Cor- 

 nelian family, and Marius. But cremation seems still 

 to have been generally practised. Tacitus (Ann. 

 xvi. 6.) says, Poppsea's corpse was not burnt, accord- 

 ing to the Roman fashion ; which shews the prevail- 

 ing custom at that period. And it is a misapprehen- 

 sion of Capitolinus's words, to suppose that Antoni- 

 nus prohibited it ; for Macrobius, (vii. 7.) who lived 

 during the reign of Theodosius the Younger, speaks 

 of it as being left off only in his time. Among the 

 Hindoos, the practice of burning the dead has pre- 

 vailed from the remotest times. Several antient au- 

 thors also mention the unnatural custom of the wo- 

 men in India burning themselves with the bodies of 

 their husbands, which seems to be of great antiquity. 

 Thus Propertius : 



t certamen habtnt leti ijuee viva teyuatur 

 Coi(jugiuin ; pndor t'st nun ticuintc mori. 



jfrdcnt i'tctrica, ctjtamaue pectora pro-bent, 

 Iinptmuntyw suis oru jwrusta virii, 



Lib. iii. El. 13. 



Cicero, inhisTusculan questions, likewise mentions 

 the same fact. " The women in India,' says he, 

 " when their husband dies, eagerly contend to have it 

 determined which of them he loved best, for each 

 man has several wives. She who conquers deems her- 

 self happy, is accompanied by her friends to the fu- 

 neral pile, wh->re her body is burnt with that of her 

 husband ; they who are vanquished depart in sor- 

 row." It is evident, however, that the custom of 

 burning the dead was at one time prevalent among 

 the northern nations of Europe, as well as among the 



\OL. V. PAUT I. 



Greeks and Romans, and the inhabitant* of Aia. 

 t Yiiqlinga Saga, publuhed by Soorro 

 Sturleson, in his history of the Kings of Norway, a*. 

 cribes the introduction of thit practice to Odin, after 

 hit settlement in the north. But he views it, at the 

 same time, ai borrowed from the Asiatic*. Odin, he 

 ays, enforced those laws in hit own dominion*, which 

 were formerly observed among thr inhabitants of A- 

 sia. He enjoined that all the dead should he burnt, 

 and that their goods should be brought to the fune- 

 ral pile with them ; promising that all the good* thus 

 burnt should accompany them to Wai h alia, and that 

 there they should enjoy what belonged to them on 

 earth. He ordered that the ashes should be thrown 

 into the sea, or be buried in the earth ; but that men 

 remarkable for their dignity and virtue should have 

 monuments erected in memory of them ; and that 

 those who were distinguished by any great action, 

 should have grave-stones, called Uautatlana. ( Yngl. 

 Sag. c. 8.) Sturleson speaks of two distinct ages. 

 The first, he says, was called Bruna-aulla, (the age 

 of funeral piles,} during which it was customary to 

 burn all the dead, and to erect monuments over them, 

 called Bautaslcina. From the time, however, that 

 Danus Mikillati, the great king of the Danes, caused 

 a tomb to be made for him, and gave orders that be 

 should be buried with all the ensigns of royalty, with 

 all his arms, and with a great part of his riches, many 

 of his posterity followed his example. Hence the 

 age of graves (Haugg-olld) had its origin in Den- 

 mark. But the age of funeral piles continued long 

 among the Swedes and Normans. (Prtf- '0 Hist. p. 

 2.) Danus Mikillati was born A. D. 170. A simi- 

 lar distinction of ages appears to have existed among 

 the Norwegians, in ancient times. We find one At- 

 biorn,in an address to Hacon the Good, on occasion of 

 a general convention of the people, dividing the time 

 past into the age of funeral piles, and that of gravel. 

 (Saga Httconar, c. 17.) It is a fact aot generally 

 known, that the inhuman custom which prevails in 

 Hindostan, of burning wives with their dead hut* 

 bands, was common among the northern nations. Not 

 only did it exist among the Thracians, the Heruli, 

 the inhabitants of Poland and of Prussia, during their 

 heathen state, but also among the Scandinavians. 

 (Oddo, /'/'/. Olai Trygguason.) It appears, howe- 

 ver, that widows were not burnt alive ; but that, ac- 

 cording to the custom of the country, they previous- 

 ly put themselves to death. The reason assigned for 

 this horrid law was that their nuptial felicity would 

 thus be continued after death in Walhalia, which was 

 their heaven. (See Bartholin. de Caufit Contempl. 

 Mortis, 506 510. Jamieson's Etymolog. Dsr.'. 

 BA VLB-FYKE.) The introduction ot Ci. ap- 



pears to have put a stop to the practice of burning 

 the dead ; and interment came, at length, to be uni- 

 versally adopted by those nations which were convert- 

 ed to the true faith. 



We shall now proceed to give some account of the 

 various funeral solemnities which have been practised 

 among different nations, and in different ages of the 

 world, so far as they can be collected from credible- 

 authorities. 



Among the Jews, all those who happen to be pre- 

 sent when any person has just expired, tear their. 



