1were to dwell for ever. The moſt probable
Account I can find of the firſt Original of theſe
Structures, is as follows: The Getæ, in the
moſt remote Antiquity, uſed at firſt, in the
Place where they interred a dead Body, to ſet
up a Stone for a Mark, or perhaps (as Plato in
his Laws more approves) a Tree, and afterwards
they uſed to raiſe ſomething of a Fence about
it to keep off the Beaſts from routing it up, or
moving it out of its Place; and when the ſame
Seaſon of the Year came round again, and they
ſaw that Field either chequered with Flowers,
or laden with Grain as it was when the Perſon
died, it was no wonder if it awakened in them
the Love of their dear Friends whom they had
loſt, and prompted them to go together to the
Place where they lay, relating and ſinging their
Actions and Sayings, and dreſſing up their Mo
numents with whatever they thought would
embelliſh them. Hence perhaps aroſe the
Cuſtom among ſeveral different Nations, and
particularly among the Greeks, of adorning and
offering Sacrifices upon the Tombs of thoſe to
whom they were much obliged. They met,
ſays Thucydides, upon the Place, in Habits ſuit
able to the Occaſion, bringing with them the firſt
Fruits of their Harveſt, thinking the publick
Performance of theſe Rites to be an Act of the
greateſt Piety and Devotion. From whence I
proceed to conjecture, that beſides raiſing the
Ground over the Place of Burial, and erecting
little Columns for Marks, they uſed alſo to raiſe
little Alars whereon to celebrate thoſe Sacrifices
with the greateſt Decency, and conſequently
they took care to make them as convenient and
beautiful as was poſſible. The Places where
theſe Tombs were erected, were various amongſt
the Ancients. According to the Pontificial
Law, it was not permitted to erect a Tomb in
any publick Square. Plato was of Opinion,
that a Man ought not to be in the leaſt offen
ſive to human Society either alive or dead; and
for this Reaſon he ordained that the Dead
ſhould be interred without the City, in ſome
barren Place. In Imitation of this, others ſet
apart a certain determined Place of Burial, un
der the open Air, and out of the Way of all
Reſort; which I highly approve: Others, on
the contrary, preſerved the Bodies of their
Dead in their Houſes, incloſed either in Salt or
Terraſs. Mycerinus, King of Ægypt, incloſed
the dead Body of his Daughter within a wood
en Figure of a Bull, and commanded the Sa
crificers to perform Obſequies in her Honour
every Day. Servius relates, that the Ancients
uſed to place the Sepulchres of their Sons, that
had the greateſt Stock of Merit and Nobility,
upon the Top of very high Hills. The Alex
andrians, in the Time of Strabo the Hiſtorian,
had Gardens and Incloſures conſecrated wholly
to the Burial of the Dead. Our more modern
Anceſtors uſed to build little Chapels, along the
Sides of their great Churches, on purpoſe for
Tombs. All through the Country, which was
once the ancient Latium, we find the Burial
places of whole Families, made under Ground,
with Urns ſtanding in Rows along the Walls
full of the Aſhes of the Deceaſed, with ſhort
Inſcriptions, and the Names of the Baker, Bar
ber, Cook, Surgeon, and other Officers and Ser
vants that were reckoned Part of the Family;
in thoſe Urns which incloſed the Aſhes of little
Children, once the Joy of their Mothers, they
made their Effigies in Stuc; but thoſe of grown
Men, eſpecially if they were noble, were made
of Marble. Theſe were the Cuſtoms of the
Ancients: Nor do I blame the making uſe of
any Place indifferently for burying the Body,
provided ſome diſtinguiſhed Place be choſen
for ſetting up an Inſcription in the Perſon's
Honour. Now what chiefly delights us in all
Tombs, is the Deſign of the Structure, and the
Epitaph. What Sort of Deſign the Ancients
approved moſt in theſe Works, I cannot ſo
eaſily affirm. Auguſtus's Sepulchre in Rome
was built of ſquare Blocks of Marble, ſhaded
with Ever-greens, and at the Top ſtood his
Statue. In the Iſland of Tyrina, not far from
Carmania, the Sepulchre of Erythræa was a
great Mound of Earth planted with wild Palm
trees. The Sepulchre of Zarina, Queen of the
Saces, was a Pyramid of three Sides, with a
Statue of Gold on the Top. Archatheus, one
of Xerxes's Lieutenants, had a Tomb of Earth
erected for him by the whole Army. But the
main Point which all ſeem to have aimed at,
was to have ſomething different from all others,
not as to condemn the Sepulchres of others,
but to draw the Eyes of Men to take the great
er Notice of them: And from this general Uſe
of Sepulchres, and theſe conſtant Endeavours
to invent ſomething new in that Way, the
Conſequence at laſt was, that it was impoſſible
to think of any thing which had not already
been put in Practice to a very great Perfection,
and all were extremely beautiful in their ſeve
ral Kinds. From the Obſervation I have made
of the numberleſs Works of this Nature, I find
that ſome had nothing in their Eye, but adorn
ing that which was to contain the Body, while
Account I can find of the firſt Original of theſe
Structures, is as follows: The Getæ, in the
moſt remote Antiquity, uſed at firſt, in the
Place where they interred a dead Body, to ſet
up a Stone for a Mark, or perhaps (as Plato in
his Laws more approves) a Tree, and afterwards
they uſed to raiſe ſomething of a Fence about
it to keep off the Beaſts from routing it up, or
moving it out of its Place; and when the ſame
Seaſon of the Year came round again, and they
ſaw that Field either chequered with Flowers,
or laden with Grain as it was when the Perſon
died, it was no wonder if it awakened in them
the Love of their dear Friends whom they had
loſt, and prompted them to go together to the
Place where they lay, relating and ſinging their
Actions and Sayings, and dreſſing up their Mo
numents with whatever they thought would
embelliſh them. Hence perhaps aroſe the
Cuſtom among ſeveral different Nations, and
particularly among the Greeks, of adorning and
offering Sacrifices upon the Tombs of thoſe to
whom they were much obliged. They met,
ſays Thucydides, upon the Place, in Habits ſuit
able to the Occaſion, bringing with them the firſt
Fruits of their Harveſt, thinking the publick
Performance of theſe Rites to be an Act of the
greateſt Piety and Devotion. From whence I
proceed to conjecture, that beſides raiſing the
Ground over the Place of Burial, and erecting
little Columns for Marks, they uſed alſo to raiſe
little Alars whereon to celebrate thoſe Sacrifices
with the greateſt Decency, and conſequently
they took care to make them as convenient and
beautiful as was poſſible. The Places where
theſe Tombs were erected, were various amongſt
the Ancients. According to the Pontificial
Law, it was not permitted to erect a Tomb in
any publick Square. Plato was of Opinion,
that a Man ought not to be in the leaſt offen
ſive to human Society either alive or dead; and
for this Reaſon he ordained that the Dead
ſhould be interred without the City, in ſome
barren Place. In Imitation of this, others ſet
apart a certain determined Place of Burial, un
der the open Air, and out of the Way of all
Reſort; which I highly approve: Others, on
the contrary, preſerved the Bodies of their
Dead in their Houſes, incloſed either in Salt or
Terraſs. Mycerinus, King of Ægypt, incloſed
the dead Body of his Daughter within a wood
en Figure of a Bull, and commanded the Sa
crificers to perform Obſequies in her Honour
every Day. Servius relates, that the Ancients
uſed to place the Sepulchres of their Sons, that
had the greateſt Stock of Merit and Nobility,
upon the Top of very high Hills. The Alex
andrians, in the Time of Strabo the Hiſtorian,
had Gardens and Incloſures conſecrated wholly
to the Burial of the Dead. Our more modern
Anceſtors uſed to build little Chapels, along the
Sides of their great Churches, on purpoſe for
Tombs. All through the Country, which was
once the ancient Latium, we find the Burial
places of whole Families, made under Ground,
with Urns ſtanding in Rows along the Walls
full of the Aſhes of the Deceaſed, with ſhort
Inſcriptions, and the Names of the Baker, Bar
ber, Cook, Surgeon, and other Officers and Ser
vants that were reckoned Part of the Family;
in thoſe Urns which incloſed the Aſhes of little
Children, once the Joy of their Mothers, they
made their Effigies in Stuc; but thoſe of grown
Men, eſpecially if they were noble, were made
of Marble. Theſe were the Cuſtoms of the
Ancients: Nor do I blame the making uſe of
any Place indifferently for burying the Body,
provided ſome diſtinguiſhed Place be choſen
for ſetting up an Inſcription in the Perſon's
Honour. Now what chiefly delights us in all
Tombs, is the Deſign of the Structure, and the
Epitaph. What Sort of Deſign the Ancients
approved moſt in theſe Works, I cannot ſo
eaſily affirm. Auguſtus's Sepulchre in Rome
was built of ſquare Blocks of Marble, ſhaded
with Ever-greens, and at the Top ſtood his
Statue. In the Iſland of Tyrina, not far from
Carmania, the Sepulchre of Erythræa was a
great Mound of Earth planted with wild Palm
trees. The Sepulchre of Zarina, Queen of the
Saces, was a Pyramid of three Sides, with a
Statue of Gold on the Top. Archatheus, one
of Xerxes's Lieutenants, had a Tomb of Earth
erected for him by the whole Army. But the
main Point which all ſeem to have aimed at,
was to have ſomething different from all others,
not as to condemn the Sepulchres of others,
but to draw the Eyes of Men to take the great
er Notice of them: And from this general Uſe
of Sepulchres, and theſe conſtant Endeavours
to invent ſomething new in that Way, the
Conſequence at laſt was, that it was impoſſible
to think of any thing which had not already
been put in Practice to a very great Perfection,
and all were extremely beautiful in their ſeve
ral Kinds. From the Obſervation I have made
of the numberleſs Works of this Nature, I find
that ſome had nothing in their Eye, but adorn
ing that which was to contain the Body, while