HUNTERIAN ORATION. 37 



never consent to such regulations; for their 

 effect would be, to deny the body the rite 

 of Christian burial. But' that the funeral 

 service availeth not to the dead is made 

 manifest, even by that sublime ritual itself, 

 which places before our view the valueless 

 nature of the dead body by the most em- 

 phatic language. We therefore commit the 

 body to the ground ; earth to earth, ashes 

 to ashes, dust to dust. That is to say, con- 

 fident it must, according to the laws of 

 nature, resolve itself into other forms, and 

 become again an undistinguished part of 

 the common constituent matter of the uni- 

 verse. Religion also " doth teach us for to 

 render the deeds of mercy" and benevo- 

 lence to those that want them, which deeds 

 cannot be properly administered to such as 

 suffer from illness or injury, unless in con- 

 sequence of our obtaining an accurate 

 knowledge of the structure of the human 

 body. . ; 



There is also another point on which some 



concession on the part of the public is tq- 



quired for the promotion of medical know- 



D 3 . 



