Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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              <s>
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              inter a dead Body, ſays the old Law, be ſacred;
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              and we ſtill profeſs the ſame Belief, namely,
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              that Sepulchres belong to Religion. </s>
              <s>As Reli­
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              gion therefore ought to be preferred before all
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              Things, I ſhall treat of theſe, though intended
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              for the Uſe of private Perſons, before I proceed
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              to profane Works of a publick Nature. </s>
              <s>There
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              ſcarce ever was a People ſo barbarous, as to be
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              without the Uſe of Sepulchres, except, perhaps,
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              thoſe wild
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              Ichthyophagi
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              in the remote Parts of
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                <emph type="italics"/>
              India,
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              who are ſaid to throw the Bodies of their
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              Dead into the Sea, affirming that it mattered
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              little whether they were conſumed by Fire,
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              Earth, or Water. </s>
              <s>The
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              Albani
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              of
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              Scythia
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              too
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              thought it to be a Crime to take any Care of
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              the Dead. </s>
              <s>The
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              Sabæans
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              looked upon a Corpſe
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              to be no better than ſo much Dung, and ac­
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              cordingly they caſt the Bodies, even of their
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              Kings, upon the Dunghill. </s>
              <s>The
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              Troglodytes
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              uſed to tie the Head and Feet of their Dead to­
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              gether, and ſo hurried them away, with Scoffs
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              and Flouts, to the firſt convenient Spot of
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              Ground they could find, without more Regard
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              to one Place than to another, where they threw
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              them in, ſetting up a Goat's Horn at their
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              Head. </s>
              <s>But no Man who has the leaſt Tinc­
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              ture of Humanity, will approve of theſe bar­
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              barous Cuſtoms. </s>
              <s>Others, as well among the
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                <emph type="italics"/>
              Ægyptians
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              as the
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              Greeks,
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              uſed to erect Sepul­
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              chres not only to the Bodies, but even to the
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              Names of their Friends; which Piety muſt be
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              univerſally commended. </s>
              <s>It was a very lauda­
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              ble Notion among the
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              Indians,
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              that the beſt
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              Monument was to live in the Memory of Poſ­
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              terity; and therefore they celebrated the Fu­
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              nerals of their greateſt Men no otherwiſe than
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              by ſinging their Praiſes. </s>
              <s>However, it is my
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              Opinion, that Care ought to be taken of the
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              dead Body, for the Sake of the Living; and
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              for the Preſervation of the Name to Poſterity,
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              there can be no Means more effectual than Se­
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              pulchres. </s>
              <s>Our Anceſtors uſed to erect Statues
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              and Sepulchres, at the publick Expence, in
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              Honour of thoſe that had ſpilt their Blood and
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              loſt their Lives for the Commonwealth, as a
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              Reward of their Services, and an Incitement to
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              others to emulate their Virtue: But perhaps
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              they ſet up Statues to a great many, but Sepul­
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              chres to few, becauſe they knew that the for­
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              mer were defaced and conſumed by Age;
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              whereas the Sanctity of Sepulchres, ſays
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              Cicero,
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              is
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              ſo annexed to the very Ground itſelf, that nothing
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              can either efface or remove it: For whereas
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              other Things are deſtroyed, Tombs grow more
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              ſacred by Age. </s>
              <s>And they dedicated theſe Se­
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              pulchres to Religion, as I imagine, with this
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              View, that the Memory of the Perſon, which
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              they truſted to the Protection of ſuch a Struc­
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              ture, and to the Stability of the Ground, might
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              be defended by the Reverence and Fear of the
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              Gods, from all Violence from the Hand of
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              Man. </s>
              <s>Hence proceeded the Law of the twelve
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              Tables, that the Veſtibule or Entrance of a Se­
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              pulchre ſhould not be employed to any Man's
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              private Uſe, and there was moreover a Law
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              which ordained the heavieſt Puniſhment upon
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              any Man that ſhould violate an Urn, or throw
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              down or break any of the Columns of a Tomb.
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              </s>
              <s>In a Word, the Uſe oſ Sepulchres has been re­
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              ceived by all the politeſt Nations, and the Care
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              and Reſpect of them was ſo great among the
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                <emph type="italics"/>
              Athenians,
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              that if any oſ their Generals neglec­
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              ted to give honourable Burial to one of thoſe
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              that were ſlain in War, he was liable to capital
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              Puniſhment for it. </s>
              <s>There was a Law among
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              the
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              Hebrews,
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              which injoined them to give Bu­
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              rial even to their Enemies. </s>
              <s>Many and various
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              are the Methods of Burial and Sepulture which
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              we read of; but they are entirely foreign to
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              our Deſign: As for Inſtance, that which is re­
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              lated of the
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              Scythians,
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              who thought the greateſt
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              Honour they could do their Dead, was to eat
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              them at their Meals; and others kept Dogs to
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              devour them when they died: But of this we
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              need ſay no more. </s>
              <s>Moſt of the wiſeſt Legiſla­
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              tors have been careful to prevent Exceſs in the
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              Expence and Magnificence of Funerals and
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              Tombs.
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              Pittacus
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              ordained, that the greateſt
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              Ornament that ſhould be erected over any Per­
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              ſon's Grave, ſhould be three little Columns,
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              one ſingle Cubit high; for it was the Opinion,
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              that it was ridiculous to make any Difference
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              in a Thing that was common to the Nature of
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              every Man, and therefore in this Point the
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              Richeſt and the Pooreſt were ſet upon the ſame
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              Foot, and all were covered with common Earth,
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              according to the old Cuſtom; in doing which it
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              was the received Notion, that as Man was origi­
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              nally formed of Earth, ſuch a Burial was only lay­
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              ing him once more in his Mother's Lap. </s>
              <s>We alſo
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              find an ancient Regulation, that no Man ſhould
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              have a more magnificent Tomb, than could be
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              built by ten Men in the Space of three Days.
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              </s>
              <s>The
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              Ægyptians,
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              on the contrary, were more
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              curious about their Sepulchres than any other
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              Nation whatſoever; and they uſed to ſay, that
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              it was very ridiculous in Men to take ſo much
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              Pains in the building of Houſes where they were
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              to dwell but a very ſhort Space of Time, and to
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              neglect the Structure of a Habitation where they </s>
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