discourse pronounced in praise of a person deceased, at the ceremony of his funeral.

This custom is very ancient. In the latter part of the account above given of the Egyptian ceremonies of interment, may be perceived the first rudiments of funeral orations, and what was the subject of them, which were afterwards moulded into a more polite and regular form by other nations, who adopted this custom. Nor can we omit remarking, that those funeral solemnities were attended not only with orations in praise of the deceased, but with prayers for him; which prayers, it seems, were made by one who perforated the deceased: an entire form of one of them is preserved by Porphyry, and perhaps it may in some measure gratify the reader's curiosity to recite it from him. "When (says he) they (the Egyptians) embalm their deceased nobles, they privately take out the entrails, and lay them up in an ark or chest; moreover, among other things which they do in favour of the deceased, lifting up the ark or chest to the sun, they invoke him; one of the Libitinarii making a prayer for the deceased, which Enophantus has translated out of the Egyptian language, and is as follows:—O lord, the sun, and all the gods who give life to men, receive me, and admit me into the society of the immortal ones; for as long as I lived in this world, I religiously worshipped the gods whom my parents showed me, and have always honoured those who begat my body: nor have I killed any man, nor have I defrauded any of what has been committed to my trust, nor have I done anything which is inexpiable. Indeed, whilst I was alive, if I have sinned either by eating or drinking anything which was not lawful; not through myself have I sinned, but through thieves, showing the ark and chest where the entrails were. And having thus spoke, he casts it into the river, but the rest of the body he embalms as pure."

The Grecians received the seeds of superstition and idolatrous worship from the Egyptians, through the coming of Cecrops, Cadmus, Danaus, and Erechtheus, into Greece; and among other customs transplanted from Egypt, were the solemnities used at the burial of the dead. Of these, an encomium on the deceased always formed a part, as particularly noticed under the preceding article.

From the Egyptians and Grecians, especially from the latter, the Romans received many of their laws and customs, as well as much of their polytheism and idolatrous worship. It is well known, that the custom of making funeral orations in praise of the dead obtained among them; and the manner in which their funeral services were performed has been already described. The corpse being brought into their great oratory, called the Rostra, the next of the kin laudabat defunatum pro rostris, that is, made a funeral oration, in the commendation principally of the party deceased, but touching the worthy acts also of those his predecessors whose images were there present. The account given by Dr. Kennet is in these words: "In all the funerals of note, especially in the public or indicative, the corpse was first brought with a vast train of followers into the Forum; here one of the nearest relations ascended the rostra, and obliged the audience with an oration in praise of the deceased. If none of the kindred undertook the office, it was discharged by some of the most eminent persons in the city for learning and eloquence, as Appian reports of the funeral of Sylla. And Pliny the younger reckons it as the last addition to the happiness of a very great man, that he had the honour to be praised at his funeral by the most eloquent Tacitus, then consul; which is agreeable to Quintilian's account of this matter, Nam et funebres, &c. For the funeral orations (says he) depend very often on some public office, and by order of senate are many times given in charge to the magistrates to be performed by themselves in person. The invention of this custom is generally attributed to Valerius Poplicola, soon after the expulsion of the regal family. Plutarch tells us, that honouring his colleague's obsequies with a funeral oration, it so pleased the Romans, that it became customary for the best men to celebrate the funerals of great persons with speeches in their commendations." Thus Julius Caesar, according to custom, made an oration in the rostra, in praise of his wife Cornelia, and his aunt Julia, when dead; wherein he showed, that his aunt's descent, by her mother's side, was from kings, and by her father's from the gods. Plutarch says, that "he approved of the law of the Romans, which ordered suitable praises to be given to women as well as to men, after death."

Though by what he says another place, it seems that the old Roman law was, that funeral orations should be made only for the elder women; and therefore he says, that Caesar was the first that made one upon his own wife, it not being then usual to take notice of younger women in that way; but by that action he gained much favour from the populace, who afterwards looked upon him, and loved him as a very mild and good man. The reason why such a law was made in favour of the women, Livy tells us, was this, That when there was such a scarcity of money in the public treasury, that the sum agreed upon to give the Gauls to break up the siege of the city and capital could not be raised, the women collected among themselves and made it up; who hereupon had not only thanks given them, but this additional honour, that after death, they should be solemnly praised as well as the men; which looks as if, before this time, only the men had those funeral orations made for them.

This custom of the Romans very early obtained among the Christians. Some of their funeral sermons or orations are now extant, as that of Eusebius on Constantine; and those of Nazianzen on Basil and Cæsarius; and of Ambrose on Valentinian, Theodosius, and others. Gregory, the brother of Basil, made ἀνακήρυξις ἁγίου, a funeral oration, for Melitius bishop of Antioch: in which orations, they not only praised the dead, but addressed themselves to them, which seems to have introduced the custom of praying to departed saints. Now these orations were usually made before the bodies of the deceased were committed to the ground; which custom has been more or less continued ever since, to this day.

Thus it appears, that these rites and ceremonies among the heathens, which have been delivered from one people to another, are what have given birth to Funeral Sermons and Orations among Christians. Though this practice is considerably improved, and cleared of many things which would smell too rank of paganism, and is thrown into a method which, perhaps, may be of some service to Christianity; yet, notwithstanding this new dress, its original may very easily be discerned. The method in which the characters of deceased persons are given in our funeral sermons, is very much the same with that observed in those pagan orations; where first an account is given of the parentage of the deceased, then of his education; after that, we hear of his conduct in riper years; then his many virtues are reckoned up, with his generous, noble, and excellent performances.—Nor let the practice be condemned because of its rise and original; for why may not the custom of heathens, if just and laudable in themselves, and no ways pernicious to Christianity in their consequences, be followed by Christians? Only, since we are come into this practice, there is one thing we should take care to follow them in; and that is, not to make those sermons or orations for every one; but for those only whose characters are distinguished, who have been eminently useful in the world, and in the church of Christ. The old heathens honoured those alone with this part of the funeral solemnity, who were men of probity and justice, renowned for their wisdom and knowledge, or famous for warlike exploits: This, as Cicero informs us, being part of the law for burials, De Legibus, which directs, that the praises only of honourable persons shall be mentioned in the oration. It would be much more agreeable, therefore, if our funeral discourses were not so common, and if the characters given of the deceased were more just; devoid of that fulsome flattery with which they too often abound.