[Illustration]




                                 EMBLEMS
                                   OF
                               MORTALITY;

                              REPRESENTING,
                        IN UPWARDS OF FIFTY CUTS,
                                  DEATH
                      SEIZING ALL RANKS AND DEGREES
                               OF PEOPLE;

             Imitated from a Painting in the Cemetery of the
              Dominican Church at BASIL, in _Switzerland_:

             With an APOSTROPHE to each, translated from the
                            Latin and French.

          Intended as well for the Information of the CURIOUS,
             as the Instruction and Entertainment of YOUTH.

                          TO WHICH IS PREFIXED

           A copious PREFACE, containing an historical Account
           of the above, and other Paintings on this Subject,
            now or lately existing in divers Parts of Europe.

                                 LONDON:
               Printed for T. HODGSON, in George’s-Court,
                      St. John’s-Lane, Clerkenwell.
                              M DCC LXXXIX.




PREFACE.


The Work here presented to the Reader is a Copy, with a small Variation
noticed hereafter, as to the Cuts, and a Translation, as to the Letter
Press, of one well known to the Curious by the Title of IMAGINES MORTIS,
or _The Images of Death_; which is reported to be in reality indebted for
its Existence to an Event that BOCCACE did but feign as the Occasion of
writing his _Decameron_; I mean the Calamity of a Plague: And its History
is as follows.

Pope EUGENIUS IV. having summoned a Council to meet at the City of Basle,
or, as it is more usually called, Basil, in Switzerland; it accordingly
met there in the Year 1431, and continued to sit for Seventeen Years,
Nine Months, and Twenty-Seven Days, or, according to Mr. WALPOLE[1], but
Fifteen Years in the whole; and at this Council the Pope himself, and
after his Death his Successor FELIX V. SIGISMOND Emperor of Germany,
ALBERT II. then King of the Romans, and many other Princes and Persons
of distinguished Rank were present. During the Sitting of this Council,
viz. in the Year 1439, the City of Basil was visited with a Plague,
which raged for some Time with extreme Violence, and carried off many
of the Nobility, and several Cardinals and Prelates who attended that
Council, some of whom were interred in the very Cemetery where the
Painting, of which we are about to speak, now is; and, on the Cessation
of the Distemper, the surviving Members of the Council, with a View
to perpetuate the Memory of this Event, and of their providential
Deliverance from its Effects, caused to be painted in Oil on the Walls
of the Cemetery, near the Convent of the Dominicans, a _Dance of Death_,
representing all Ranks of Persons, from the Pope to the Peasant, as
individually seized by Death; adding also to each Figure eight Lines in
German, four of them containing an Address from Death to them severally,
the other four their Reply. The Name of the Painter employed on this
Occasion has not been transmitted down to us with Certainty; but some
Persons have imagined that this Painting was the Work of HANS HOLBEIN:
Whether it were done by him or another, shall be hereafter considered;
but, in the mean Time, we shall here proceed to relate the subsequent
History of the Painting itself.

It is, however, to be observed, that MATTHEW MERIAN, who, in 1649,
published in German, at Franckfort, in small Quarto, a Book entitled
TODTEN TANZ, or _Death’s Dance_, containing Engravings from the
above-mentioned Painting[2], and from the Preface to whose Work, as
translated into French, in an Edition printed at Basil in 1744, most of
the foregoing Facts are extracted, does not speak in positive Terms as to
the precise Time when the original Figures were painted, but only says,
that they are believed, and with great Probability, to be of that Time
in which he had placed them; in further Confirmation of which he has
noticed, that SIGISMOND was himself a Lover and extraordinary Patron of
the Arts, and had always about him a Number of Artists; and that JOHN
AB EYCK, the Inventor of Oil Painting, flourished in his Reign; but Mr.
WARTON[3] has related (though it does not appear on what Authority) not
only that HOLBEIN was the Painter, but that the Subject in Question was
painted in 1543; in which I conceive him misinformed: For MERIAN was, as
he himself tells us, a Native of Basil, and possibly might have had his
Account by Tradition; and, had the Painting been of no earlier a Date
than 1543, it is hardly probable (considering too that it is in Oil)
that it should have been so much injured by Time as to stand in Need, as
we find it did, of an almost total Repair in 1568: To all which I add,
that MERIAN seems so well satisfied of the Truth of his Account, that he
tells us further that the Figures were drawn from Nature, and are dressed
each in the Habit of the Time; and that those of the Pope, Emperor, and
King, are respectively Portraits of FELIX V. who succeeded EUGENIUS IV.,
SIGISMOND Emperor of Germany, and ALBERT II., King of the Romans; all of
whom, as we have before remarked, were present at the Council.

Mr. WALPOLE[4] mentions that this Painting was repaired in 1529; but
in this he seems to have been misled (accidentally taking one Date
instead of another) by a Passage in the Preface to MERIAN’s Book before
cited. MERIAN informs us, that the Painting in Question having been much
injured by Time, JOHN HUGH KLAUBER, a Painter, and Citizen of Basil,
was, in 1568, employed to repair it; and that, finding a Vacancy on the
Wall sufficient for his Purpose, he added at the Head of the Painting
a Portrait of JOHANNES OECOLOMPADIUS, in Memory of the Reformation in
1529, to which his preaching the Gospel to all Ranks, as he did, might
be supposed in some small Degree to contribute; and, at the End of the
Painting, on another Part of the Wall, he added the Portraits of himself,
his Wife, and his Children: And this Repair by KLAUBER, MERIAN tells us
further, was commemorated in a Latin Tablet, which in his Time hung near
the Painting. Some Time after, it was again repaired, and so, without
any further Repair, it continued till MERIAN’s Time; but KEYSLER, who
visited it in 1729, in his _Travels_, Vol. I. P. 171, Edit. 8vo. 1760,
relates, that the original Colours were then totally effaced, that only
the Outlines of the Figures were left, and that it had then been lately
repaired.

The Thought of this allegorical Representation of Death, though in the
present Instance immediately suggested by the Event above related, was
not in itself original, but borrowed in some Measure from a Kind of
Masquerade, which Mr. WARTON[5] observes was anciently celebrated in
the Churches abroad, particularly those of France (and, among others,
it seems to have been performed in St. Innocent’s Church at Paris)
and in which all Ranks and Degrees of Persons were personated by the
Ecclesiastics of those Churches, who all danced together, and then
disappeared; and it is certain that before the Calamity above-mentioned
happened at Basil, and consequently before this Painting there was begun,
Allusions to a _Dance of Death_ occurred in the Writings of the Authors
of the Time, in Reference, no Doubt, to that Kind of Masquerade. It were
needless to introduce a Number of Quotations to support this Assertion;
but as some Proof may, perhaps, be expected, I here insert from _The
Vision of_ PIERS PLOWMAN, written about 1350, the following Passage, with
which Mr. WARTON’s _Hist. of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54, has furnished me:

    “Death came driving after, and all to Dust pash’d
    Kings and Cæsars, Knights and Popes.”

And I further find that, several Years prior to the Breaking out of this
Plague at Basil, the Idea had even been carried into Execution; for that
in 1384, a _Death’s Dance_ had been painted at Minden, in Westphalia[6]:
But, no sooner had this Painting at Basil been finished, and become, as
it very soon after did, universally celebrated all over Europe, but the
_Dance of Death_ became a very favourite Subject, and was frequently
painted in public Buildings. The earliest Instance which has yet
occurred, subsequent to the Painting at Basil, is one which Mr. WARTON[7]
mentions at Lubec, in the Portico of St. Mary’s Church, painted in 1463;
and of which Dr. NUGENT, in his _Travels_, Vol. I. P. 102, speaking of
Lubec, gives the following Account:

“But the most noted Thing in St. Mary’s Church is the Painting called
_Death’s Dance_, so much talked of in all Parts of Germany. It was
originally drawn in 1463, but the Figures were repaired at different
Times, as in 1588, 1642, and last of all in 1701. Here you see the
Representation of Death leading an Emperor in his imperial Robes, who
with his other Hand takes hold of such another Figure, which leads up a
King; and so alternately a Figure of Death and a human Person through all
Conditions and Stages of Life. The Intention of the Artist was to shew
that Death pays no Regard to Age or Condition, which is more particularly
expressed in the Verses underneath. They were composed at first in Plat
Deutch, or Low Dutch; but at the last Repair, in 1701, it was thought
proper to change them for German Verses, which were written by NATHANIEL
SCHLOTT, of Dantzick.” Of these Verses Dr. NUGENT has inserted a
Translation from the original German, by a Lady of Dantzick, from which
it appears that the Originals consist of, first, an Apostrophe of Death
to all, and then an Address of Death to one Individual; then follows
his Reply; after that, Death’s Address to another; next, his Reply; and
so on. It further appears from the Translation, that the Characters
delineated in the Painting are the following: The Pope, Emperor,
Empress, Cardinal, King, Bishop, General, Abbé, Knight, Carthusian,
Burgomaster, Prebendary, Nobleman, Physician, Usurer, Chaplain, Steward,
Church-Warden, Tradesman, Recluse, Peasant, Young Man, Maiden, Infant,
Dancing-Master, and Fencing-Master.

In Addition to this Instance we learn, that, in the Reign of Henry the
Sixth, one JENKEN CARPENTER caused to be painted at his Expence on the
Walls of the Cloister of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London[8], the _Dance of
MACHABRAY_, or _Dance of Death_[9]; and it is more than probable that
the celebrated Painting of the same Kind in St. Innocent’s Church, in
Paris, in like Manner owes its Original to the Painting at Basil.

Nor are these the only Instances in which this Subject has been chosen
for the Decoration of Buildings; for in 1525 it was painted at Annaberg,
and in 1534, in the Castle or Palace at Dresden; as it also was, though
when is unknown, at Leipsic and other Places[10].

The same Inclination in Favour of this Subject began also, very soon
after the Painting in Question was known, to discover itself in literary
Publications, and in the Decorations and Ornaments of Books. One MACABER,
a French or German Poet, but of what Æra is uncertain, wrote in German
a Poem on the Subject of _Death’s Dance_, which, in Consequence of this
Circumstance, is not seldom from him called _The Dance of MACABER_[11].
His Verses were translated into French, and written round the Cloister
of St. Innocent’s, at Paris, under, as I conceive, the before-mentioned
Painting; and from this French Translation, LYDGATE, at the Request
of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s[12], made a Version, which was
afterwards inscribed on the Walls of their Church, under the Painting of
the same Subject.

It would be an endless Task, and afford but little Entertainment to the
Reader, to reckon up here a long List of Books in which the Subject has
been reiterated: We shall therefore content ourselves with mentioning
that it appeared in the Chronicle of HARTMANNUS SCHEDELIUS, printed at
Nuremberg in 1493, Folio[13], usually called the Nuremberg Chronicle; in
the Quotidian Offices of the Church, printed at Paris, 1515, in 8vo[14];
in several Horæ, Missals, &c. and even so late as in _A Book of Christian
Prayers, collected out of the ancient Writers and best learned of our
Time_, first printed in 4to. 1569, and afterwards in the same Size in
1608; and that, in Addition to all these and others which might be
mentioned, the Painting at Basil was the Cause of the Publication of the
IMAGINES MORTIS, from which the present is copied and translated, and
of which therefore it will be necessary here to give an Account; first
observing, that the Excellence of the Cuts in the Original, which are
here also copied with sufficient Fidelity, has induced an Opinion that
they were the Work of HOLBEIN, a Fact which we mean hereafter to inquire
into.

PAPILLON, in his _Traité historique et pratique de la Gravure en Bois_,
8vo. 1766, Tom. I. P. 166, informs us, that HOLBEIN, having arrived to a
great Degree of Perfection in Painting, was employed by a Magistrate of
Basil to paint a _Dance of Death_ in the Fish-Market of that City, near a
Cemetery (by which he undoubtedly means the Painting at Basil, of which
we have so often had Occasion to speak); that this Work added much to his
Reputation; after which he employed his Skill in reducing the original
Figures into a small Size; and that he afterwards engraved them upon
Wood, with a Delicacy and Beauty not to be equalled. But unfortunately
PAPILLON here speaks without sufficient Attention; for the Painting at
Basil, as may be learnt from MERIAN’s Engravings before mentioned, and
on the Accuracy of which I am assured by an ingenious Friend, who lately
examined them with the Originals, I may rely, consists of single Figures,
each led by a Figure of Death, and following each other in order, so
as to form a long Procession: The same may be remarked of the Painting
at St. PAUL’s; and, for aught that appears to the contrary, of that at
Lubec, and of that at St. Innocent’s Church at Paris, and probably of all
the others which we have noticed above: Whereas the present Cuts consist
of separate Compartments, each containing Groupes of Figures, so that the
present Work is by no means merely a Reduction in Size of the Painting at
Basil, but is rather to be considered as founded on the same Idea, and
suggested by the Original, than as a Copy from it.

The earliest Edition of the IMAGINES MORTIS which I have as yet seen, is
one printed, as appears from the Colophon at the End, by MELCHIOR and
GASPAR TRECHSEL, in small 4to. at Lyons, in 1538: It is in French, and
its Title is as follows: “_Les Simulachres & Historiees faces de la Mort,
autant elegamment pourtraictes, que artificiellement imaginees: A Lyons,
soulz l’Escu de Cologne._” But PAPILLON, _in Loco supra cit_, tells us,
that the Cuts to the IMAGINES MORTIS must have been done about the Year
1530, for that the four first of them occur among HOLBEIN’s Cuts to the
Old Testament, printed in 1539; and that it is apparent from those among
the Scripture Cuts, that the Blocks had then already furnished many
Thousands of Impressions. That the four first Cuts of the IMAGINES MORTIS
are among the Scripture Cuts of HOLBEIN, is certainly true; but I think
I once saw, in the Hands of a Friend, a Copy of the vulgate Latin Bible,
in which those Scripture Cuts were inserted, and which, if my Memory does
not greatly deceive me, was printed so early as in or about 1518 or 1520.

The same Author further relates, that the first Edition, which he thinks
for the above Reasons should be placed in the Year 1530, was printed
at Basil, or Zuric, with a Title to each Cut, and, as he believes, some
Verses under each, all in the German Language (but, that there was an
early Edition in Flemish); and adds, that the Book, having passed over
into France, was much sought after by the Curious there; so that a
Printer of Lyons was induced to purchase the Blocks, and that from them
he printed several Editions in Latin, French, and Italian.

Having thus accounted for the Existence of the Book, and for its Arrival
in France, it remains to speak of the several Impressions which it
there underwent. We have already mentioned one, the earliest which we
know of, printed in small Quarto, at Lyons, _soulz l’Escu de Cologne_,
by MELCHIOR and GASPAR TRECHSEL, in 1538: The Cuts in this Edition are
forty-three in Number, and no more; and over each is, in Latin, a Passage
from either the Old or New Testament or Apocrypha, which, in the present
Publication, is given in English, from the Translation of the Bible now
in use. Under the Cuts are four Lines in French Verse, the Substance of
which has been preserved in all the Editions, whether they were in Latin,
French, or Italian. This Edition, in order to make it of a tolerable Size
(for the Cuts alone would have been too few to constitute a Volume) is
accompanied with several Tracts in French, which, as not relating to,
or connected with, our present Subject, we here forbear to enumerate;
but it is necessary, before we close our Account of this Edition of
1538, to remark, that it is preceded by a Dedication in French, to the
very Reverend Abbess of the Religious Convent of St. PETER of Lyons,
Madam JEHANNE DE TOUSZELE; and in this Dedication the Author of it
notices, that the Name and Surname (or, as we term them, the Christian
and Surname) of the Abbess and himself are precisely the same in sound,
excepting only the Letter T, from which I conjecture (for his Name does
not any where appear) that his Name was JEAN, or, as it was anciently
written, JEHAN [_i. e._ JOHN] DE OUSZELL, or OZELL, as it is now usually
spelt. In this Dedication is also a Passage, a Translation of which will
be given hereafter, from which it appears that the Person by whom the
Cuts were designed, was then dead, leaving behind him several others of
the same Kind, which, though drawn, were unfinished, and particularly one
representing a Waggoner crushed under his overthrown Waggon; in which
Cut, a Figure of Death is represented secretly sucking through a Reed,
the Wine out of a Cask; and that to these unfinished Cuts no one had
dared to put the last Hand.

The next Edition, in Point of Time, which I have seen, I conceive
to have been the first that appeared in Latin, and it was printed in
Duodecimo, at Lyons, _sub scuto Coloniensi_, by JOHN and FRANCIS FRELLON,
in 1542. It contains the same Number of Cuts (and no more) as that of
1538, and is entitled, “_Imagines de Morte, et Epigrammata e Gallico
idiomate a Georgio Æmylio in Latinum translata_;” from whence it appears
that it is, in Fact, a Translation of the French Edition of 1538. This
also contains some additional Tracts, all differing from those in the
Edition of 1538, but not in the least relating to the present Inquiry,
and therefore not here particularized, though they have been continued
through almost all the subsequent Impressions, and have been given
respectively in French, Latin, and Italian, according as the Verses under
the Cuts to the IMAGINES MORTIS were in one or other of those Languages.

In 1547, another Edition was published of this Book, in French; it was
entitled, “_Les Images de la Mort_,” and printed at Lyons, _A l’Escu de
Cologne, Chez JEHAN FRELLON_; the Title-Page also informs us that twelve
Cuts are added to it, and on Examination we find that the Cuts inserted
in Page 40, and the seven subsequent Pages of this Work, and four Cuts of
Boys, which, as not relating to this Subject, are in the present Edition
omitted (none of which occur in either the French Edition of 1538, or
the Latin one of 1542, the only two prior Editions that I know of) are to
be found in this of 1547[15].

In the same Year, viz. 1547, but whether prior or subsequent to the
last above mentioned, cannot be known, another Latin Edition appeared,
printed at Lyons by the same JOHN FRELLON, and containing the same
increased Number of Cuts as the French one of the same Year, that
is to say, fifty-three in all; and the same JOHN FRELLON, in 1549,
printed an Edition of this Work in Italian and Latin, the Passages from
Scripture over the Cuts being in Latin, and the Verses under the Cuts
in Italian; and this also contains the same Number of Cuts with the two
last-mentioned Editions: But PAPILLON, P. 169, remarks that the Blocks,
when this Edition of 1549 was printed, had already furnished more than an
hundred-thousand Impressions, for that in some Places they appear to be
worn.

In 1562, the same JOHN FRELLON published another French Edition, which
appears, by the Printer’s Colophon at the End, to have been printed at
Lyons by SYMPHORIEN BARBIER, and which professes in the Title to be
augmented with seventeen Plates. PAPILLON, P. 182, mentions both this
Edition and Peculiarity, but denies the Truth of the Assertion, because
he tells us, that in this French Edition he finds but five more Cuts than
in the Italian One of 1549; notwithstanding which, it is certainly true,
as will be presently proved. PAPILLON admits that the Edition of 1562
contains five Cuts more than that of 1549, and, if he had gone farther
back in his Research, would have found that that of 1549 (and so do the
French and Latin Editions of 1547) comprizes twelve more than that of
1538, and that those twelve were first added to the French and Latin
Editions of 1547. The Edition of 1562 does not assert that that contains
seventeen Cuts more than any preceding Edition, but, reckoning the five
which it has more than the Impression of 1549, and the twelve which that
has more than the Edition of 1538, and which are also inserted in that
of 1562, they make together seventeen Cuts more than were in the Edition
of 1538, and consequently justify the Assertion in the Title, that the
Edition of 1562 contains seventeen additional Cuts.

The Success which such a Number of Editions seems to imply, induced a
Bookseller of Cologne to counterfeit the Book; and, instead of making use
of the original Cuts, which, in all Probability he could not procure,
he got Copies, and not very exact ones, engraven from them for his
intended Edition. When the first counterfeited Edition appeared, I am not
informed; but am induced to think that this Person, whom I have above
described as a Bookseller of Cologne, was ARNOLD BIRCKMAN, as I find an
Edition, printed in 1555, at Cologne, _Apud hœredes_ ARNOLDI BIRCKMANNI.
In this Edition, and also in one printed by the same Persons in 1573, the
Cuts are reversed, the Passages from Scripture over the Cuts, and also
the Verses under the Cuts, are in Latin; and both these Editions contain
the Number of Cuts in the Latin and French ones of 1547, and no more: In
the Cut inserted P. 17, of the present Edition, is the following Mark
[Illustration: SA] (intended, no doubt, for that of the Engraver) and
which was that of SILVIUS ANTONIANUS, an Artist of considerable Merit.

Having thus given the History of this celebrated Work, we are now to
inquire, in the first Place, whether the original Painting at Basil were,
or not, painted by HOLBEIN; and, in the second, whether the IMAGINES
MORTIS were either designed or engraven by him.

As to the first of these Questions it is to be observed, that MERIAN,
whom we have above mentioned, has related that this Picture at Basil was
painted during the sitting of the Council before mentioned, which met
in 1431, and sat either fifteen, according to some, or something more
than seventeen Years, according to other Authors; so that the Painting
now under Consideration must have been done between the Years 1439, when
the Plague broke out, and 1446, or 1448, when the Council broke up; now
it is certain that HOLBEIN was not born till 1498[16]: nor do we find
that he was ever employed on the Painting at Basil, even so much as to
retouch it. HUGH KLAUBER, who repaired it in 1568, is recorded, and it is
not probable that, if it ever had been touched upon by HOLBEIN, that Fact
should, in his own native City, have been passed over in Silence: On the
contrary, it is more likely that an Opportunity should have been rather
sought to reveal it[17].

From these Considerations it appears pretty evidently, that HOLBEIN has
no Claim to the Painting at Basil: We now proceed, therefore, to the
second Inquiry, viz. Whether he either designed or engraved the original
Cuts to the IMAGINES MORTIS, and here it may first be necessary to state
what Reasons there may be for supposing them his.

NICOLAS BORBONIUS, a Poet contemporary with HOLBEIN, has addressed to him
an Epigram “_De Morte picta, a Hanso Pictore nobili_[18],” from which
it is inferred that he painted a _Dance of Death_; and SANDRART relates
that in the Year 1627, in a Conversation with RUBENS, at which he was
present, the IMAGINES MORTIS was stiled HOLBEIN’s, as will appear from
the following Passage, translated by Mr. WARTON from JOACH. SANDRART,
_Academ. Pict._ Part II. Lib. iii. Cap. 7. P. 241, “I also well remember
that in the Year 1627, when PAUL RUBENS came to Utrecht to visit
HANDORST, being escorted both coming from, and returning to Amsterdam,
by several Artists; as we were in the Boat, the Conversation fell upon
HOLBEIN’s Book of Cuts representing the _Dance of Death_, that RUBENS
gave them the highest Encomiums, advising me, who was then a young Man,
to set the highest Value upon them; informing me, at the same Time, that
he, in his Youth, had copied them.” WARTON’s _Observations on SPENSER_,
first Edit. P. 231, in a Note, where is also inserted a Translation from
the same Work, P. 238, in the following Words, “But, in the Fish-Market
there” [at Basil] “may be seen his” [HOLBEIN’s] “admirable _Dance of
Peasants_, where also, in the same public Manner, is shewn his _Dance of
Death_; where, by a Variety of Figures, it is demonstrated that Death
spares neither Popes, Emperors, Princes, &c. as may be seen in his most
elegant wooden Cuts of the same Work.”

In BULLART’s _Academie des Sciences_, Tom. II. P. 412, is a Passage, of
which the following is a Translation: “Nevertheless, he” [HOLBEIN] “has
not sent any Thing into the World which is not painted with the last
Degree of Perfection. The Inhabitants of Basil have an excellent Witness
of this in their Town-House: It is his Piece of the _Dance of Death_,
which he has reduced into Colours, after having engraven them very
neatly on Wood; and which appeared so excellent to the learned ERASMUS,
that, after having published his Praises, he invited HOLBEIN to draw his
Picture, in order that he might have the Happiness of being represented
by so skilful a Hand.”

Mons. PATIN, in the Catalogue of HOLBEIN’s Works, prefixed to his Edition
of ERASMUS’s _Praise of Folly_, in Latin, closes his List with Words to
the following Effect, “He also engraved several Things upon Wood, among
which are his _Scripture Cuts_, and _Dance of Death_, vulgarly called
_Toden Tans_; from which that Picture is not very different, which was
painted from the Life by the Hand, as some think, of HOLBEIN himself, and
is enclosed by wooden Pallisadoes from Strangers in the Cemetery of the
Predicants, in the Suburbs of St. JOHN, at Basil:” And PRIOR takes it
for so acknowledged a Fact that HOLBEIN painted the well-known _Dance of
Death_, that, in his _Ode to the Memory of Colonel GEORGE VILLIERS_, he
thus alludes to it:

    “In vain we think that free-will’d Man has Pow’r
    To hasten or protract th’ appointed Hour.
    Our Term of Life depends not on our Deed;
    Before our Birth, our Fun’ral was decreed.
    Nor aw’d by Foresight, nor misled by Chance,
    Imperious Death directs the Ebon Lance,
    Peoples great HENRY’s Tombs, and leads up HOLBEIN’s Dance.”

By “great HENRY’s Tombs,” HENRY the Seventh’s Chapel in Westminster-Abbey
is meant.

To refute by minute Examination the several Errors in the above
Citations, would be an almost endless Task; it is sufficient here to
remark, that the Passage from BORBONIUS is too general to ascertain,
whether he means a _Dance of Death_, or a single Figure; that SANDRART or
RUBENS’s Declaration is too far distant from the Time, to be of any great
Weight; as is also PATIN’s Assertion, that HOLBEIN actually engraved the
IMAGINES MORTIS: And surely, if it had been either designed or engraven
by him, FRELLON, for whom so many Editions were printed, would not have
failed to have mentioned it in some of them, when we find, that in the
Editions of the _Scripture Cuts_, which he printed, he has inserted a
Latin Poem of some Length, and also a Greek Epigram, both by BORBONIUS,
with a Translation of this latter into Latin, all to prove, that the Cuts
were the Work of HOLBEIN. It is further to be observed (as one Reason for
ascribing these Cuts to HOLBEIN) that a Cut of the IMAGINES MORTIS, which
occurs P. 36 of this Edition, but the Mark is there purposely omitted,
has to it in the original the Letters H L thus conjoined [Illustration:
HL] which PAPILLON asserts, is one of the Marks of HOLBEIN; and CHRISTIAN
DE MECHEL, Engraver to the Elector Palatine, seems so well convinced of
their being really at least designed by HOLBEIN, that he has inserted the
_Dance of Death_, as represented in the IMAGINES MORTIS, among the rest
of his Works, which he is now publishing; but the Number of Cuts there
given, is no more than Forty-Six.

It were much to be wished that MECHEL had informed us, from what he had
copied the _Dance of Death_; whether, as he probably did, from Drawings;
and, if so, where those Drawings were to be found, and on what further
Evidence he had ventured to ascribe them to HOLBEIN; for, as will
presently appear, there is very great Reason, at least, for doubting the
Fact, notwithstanding that the four first Cuts of the IMAGINES MORTIS
occur among the Cuts to the Old Testament, printed in 1539, and which
we are told expressly in a Poem, and also in an Epigram, of BORBONIUS,
prefixed to them, are of the Hand of HOLBEIN; but whether by this we are
to understand, that he designed or engraved them, or both, we are left to
seek. After having thus ventured to question in general Terms, HOLBEIN’s
Title to the Merit of this Work, it is incumbent on me to shew on what my
Doubts are founded, and this I am prepared to do; for, in the Dedication
to the Edition of the IMAGINES MORTIS, in 1538, is a Passage, of which I
here insert a faithful Translation:

    “To return then to our _Cuts of Death_, we now very justly
    regret the Death of him who has here designed such elegant
    Figures, exceeding as much all the Examples hitherto, as the
    Paintings of APELLES, or of ZEUXIS, exceed the Moderns. For his
    sorrowful Histories, with their Descriptions severely verified,
    excite such Admiration in the Beholders, that they think the
    Figures of Death appear as if quite alive, and the Living as
    if dead. Which makes me think that Death, fearing that this
    excellent Painter would paint him so much alive, that he should
    no longer be feared as Death, and that, for this Reason, he
    himself would become immortal; for this very Cause hastened
    so much his Days, that he could not finish several other Cuts
    already by him traced, and among others that of the Waggoner
    overthrown and bruised under his overturned Waggon; the Wheels
    and Horses of which are there represented so frightfully, that
    as much Horror is occasioned to view their Downfall, as Delight
    to contemplate the Liquorishness of one Figure of Death, who is
    secretly sucking through a Reed the Wine from the emptied Cask:
    To which imperfect Histories, as well as to the inimitable
    Rainbow, no one has dared to put the last Hand.”

This Dedication is prefixed to the Edition of 1538, and speaks of the
Designer (by which, I conceive, we must understand both Painter and
Engraver, for it speaks of the Drawings of the unfinished ones as
having been then already traced or drawn; and, if so, they might surely
have been finished by the Engraver of the former ones) as then lately
dead; now it is well known that HOLBEIN did not die till 1554[19], and
therefore it could not be he: And I would further observe, that the
Mark [Illustration: HL] is not peculiar to HOLBEIN. STRUTT, in his
_Biographical Dictionary of Engravers_, Vol. II. P. 86, attributes it to
one HANS LEDERER, of whom he gives no Particulars; and the _Catalogue
of Marks and Cyphers of Engravers_, P. 21. Edit. 1730, mentions one
LAMBRECHT HOPFER, a German, but the Age in which he lived is not noticed,
who used, as his Mark, sometimes a Vase of Flowers in the Midst of the
Letters L H, and sometimes the perpendicular Stroke of the L in the
second Stroke of the H, which is exactly as it appears in the Cut before
referred to.

I have only to add, that the Cuts in the present Edition, excepting only
the first (which, representing in the Original the Deity in the Habit of
the Pope, to avoid giving Offence, it was thought proper to omit, and
to substitute in its Room one designed for the Purpose) are engraven,
and the Verses under them translated, from the Latin Edition of 1547;
and that the additional Cuts, which appeared in the French Edition of
1562 (with the Omission only of four of Boys, as being foreign to this
Subject) are here also inserted, and the Verses under them translated
from the French.

                                                              THE EDITOR.

March 24, 1789.



FOOTNOTES


[1] _Anecdotes of Painting_, 8vo. Vol. I. P. 123.

[2] As it may afford the Reader some Satisfaction to be informed
particularly what Characters are represented in this Painting, we here
give a List of them from MERIAN’s Engravings mentioned in the Text: At
the Beginning is a Cut of OECOLOMPADIUS preaching; next follows one of a
Charnel-House, and two Figures of Death piping; after which, in distinct
Cuts, are given the Pope, Emperor, Empress, King, Queen, Cardinal,
Bishop, Duke, Duchess, Count, Abbot, Knight, Lawyer, Magistrate, Canon,
Physician, Gentleman, Lady, Merchant, Abbess, Cripple, Hermit, Young Man,
Usurer, Maiden, Musician, Herald, Mayor, Grand Provost, Buffoon, Pedlar,
Blind Man, Jew, Pagan, Female Pagan, Cook, Peasant, Painter, Painter’s
Wife.

[3] _History of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54, in a Note.

[4] _Anecdotes of Painting_, 8vo. Vol. I. P. 123.

[5] _History of Poetry_, Vol. I. P. 210.

[6] WARTON’s _Hist. of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Formerly called Pardon Church-Yard, about which, says WEEVER,
_Ancient Funeral Monuments_, 4to Edition, 1767, P. 168, “was artificially
and richly painted, the _Dance of Death_ commonly called the _Dance of
Paul’s_; the Picture of Death leading all Estates.”

The above JENKEN CARPENTER was Executor to Sir RICHARD WHITTINGTON, and
had a Licence granted him, Anno 1430, 8 Hen. VI. to establish upon the
Charnel-House of St. Paul’s a Chaplain, to have eight Marks a Year.

                                                     WEEVER, _ubi supra_.

[9] _STOW’s Survey of London_, Edit. 4to. 1618, P. 616. An Engraving of
it is inserted in _DUGDALE’s Hist. of St. Paul’s_, Edit. 1658, P. 290,
and under it are given LYDGATE’s Verses, which he observes at the End he
had translated,

    “Not Word by Word, but following in Substance.”

The Characters, as may be collected from the Titles to the Verses, are
the Pope, Emperor, Cardinal, King, Patriarch, Constable, Archbishop,
Baron, Princess, Bishop, Squire, Abbot, Abbess, Bailiff, Astronomer,
Burgess, Canon Secular, Merchant, Chartreux, Serjeant, Monk, Usurer,
Physician, Amorous Squire, Gentlewoman, Man of Law, Mr. JOHN REKILL
Tregetour, [_i. e._ Jugler. See the Glossary to URRY’s CHAUCER, Art.
_Treget_] Parson, Juror, Minstrel, Labourer, Friar Minor, Child, Young
Clerk, Hermit, the King eaten of Worms, MACHABREE the Doctor.—DUGDALE, P.
132, says that CARPENTER was a Citizen of London, and that the Painting
at St. Paul’s was in Imitation of that in the Cloister adjoining to St.
Innocent’s Church-Yard, in Paris.

[10] WARTON’s _History of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54.

[11] Mr. WARTON, in his _Observations on SPENSER_, first Edit. P. 230, in
a Note, says, that MACABER wrote a Description in Verse of a Procession,
painted on the Walls of St. Innocent’s Cloister, at Paris, called the
_Dance of Death_; so that in this Passage Mr. WARTON must be supposed to
understand that MACABER’s Verses were written posterior to that Painting.
He further informs us, in the Additions and Corrections to the second
Volume of his _History of Poetry_, that the earliest complete French
Translation of these Verses was printed in 1499, but that a less perfect
Edition had been before published in 1486, and that the French Rhymes
in this last are said to be by MICHEL MAROT. A Copy in French of _La
grande Danse de MACABRE des Hommes et des Femmes_, printed in 4to. at
Troyes, for JOHN GARNIER, but without a Date, I have seen; and find from
the Verses under each Cut, that the Characters are the Pope, Emperor,
Cardinal, King, Legate, Duke, Patriarch, Constable, Archbishop, Knight,
Bishop, Squire, Abbot, Bailiff, Astrologer, Burgess, Canon, Merchant,
School-Master, Man of Arms, Chartreux, Serjeant, Monk, Usurer, Physician,
Lover, Advocate, Minstrel, Curate, Labourer, Proctor, Gaoler, Pilgrim,
Shepherd, Cordelier, Child, Clerk, Hermit, Adventurer, Fool. The Women
are the Queen, Duchess, Regent’s Wife, Knight’s Wife, Abbess, Squire’s
Wife, Shepherdess, Cripple, Burgess’s Wife, Widow, Merchant’s Wife,
Bailiff’s Wife, Young Wife, Dainty Dame, Female Philosopher, New-married
Wife, Woman with Child, Old Maid, Female Cordelier, Chambermaid,
Intelligence-Woman, Hostess, Nurse, Prioress, Damsel, Country Girl, Old
Chambermaid, Huckstress, Strumpet, Nurse for Lying-in Women, Young Girl,
Religious, Sorceress, Bigot, Fool.

[12] WARTON’s _Hist. of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 53.

[13] WARTON’s _History of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54.

[14] Ibid.

[15] It cannot be doubted that these additional Cuts are those mentioned
in the Dedication to the Edition of 1538, as being then left unfinished,
for, among them, is the Cut of the Waggoner there particularly described.

[16] WALPOLE’s _Anecdotes of Painting_, Vol. I. P. 123.

[17] KEYSLER, in his Travels before referred to, Vol. I. P. 171, speaking
of the _Dance of Death_, at Basil, says, it is generally reputed to
have been painted by HOLBEIN, who had also drawn and painted a _Death’s
Dance_, and had likewise painted, as it were, a Duplicate of this Piece
on another House, but which Time has entirely obliterated. “However,”
adds he, “for several Reasons the _Death’s Dance_ near the French Church
may be presumed not to be HOLBEIN’s, but the Work of another Artist whose
Name was BOCK.”

[18] WARTON’s _Observations on SPENSER_, Vol. II. P. 117, in the Note.

[19] WALPOLE’s _Anecdotes of Painting_, Vol. I. P. 115.




The CREATION of the WORLD.


_So God created Man in his own Image, in the Image of God created he him:
Male and Female created he them._

GENESIS i. 27.

[Illustration]

    In the Beginning, Heav’n and Earth,
      And the resounding Sea,
    God, by his Voice omnipotent,
      From Nothing caus’d to be.

    The human Race, the Image true
      Of his divinest Mind,
    Both Male and Female he did form
      From lightest Earth we find.




SIN.


_Because thou hast hearkened unto the Voice of thy Wife, and hast eaten
of the Tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it_,
&c.

GENESIS iii. 17.

[Illustration]

    Against God’s Will the direful Fruit
      Of the forbidden Tree
    The Husband by his foolish Wife
      To taste induc’d we see.

    A grievous Death they both deserv’d
      For this Offence so great,
    And we, their Children, subject are
      To the same Laws of Fate.




DEATH.


_The Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the Ground,
from whence he was taken._

GENESIS iii. 23.

[Illustration]

    Th’ Almighty Father did expel
      Man from his blessed Seat;
    And to sustain his Life decreed
      By his own proper Sweat:

    Then, first, into the empty World,
      Pale Death an Entrance gain’d;
    And the same Pow’r o’er mortal Men,
      Has ever since maintain’d.




The CURSE.


_Cursed is the Ground for thy Sake; in Sorrow shalt thou eat of it all
the Days of thy Life_, &c.

GENESIS iii. 17.

[Illustration]

    Curs’d be the Earth for thy Offence,
      And barren be the Ground,
    And full of Toil and Labour great,
      Thy anxious Life be found;

    Till Death thy lifeless Limbs replace
      In Earth’s cold narrow Womb,
    Then Dust, which at the first thou wert,
      Thou quickly shalt become.




_Woe, Woe, Woe to the Inhabiters of the Earth._

REVELATIONS viii. 13.

_All in whose Nostrils was the Breath of Life, of all that was in the dry
Land, died._

GENESIS vii. 22.

[Illustration]

    Woe, grievous Woe, to all who now
      In this vile World abide;
    For Times await you big with Grief,
      And every Ill beside.

    Though now to you a plenteous Share
      Of Fortune’s Gifts may fall,
    Pale Death will be, or soon or late,
      A Visitant to all.




The POPE.


_Until the Death of the High-Priest that shall be in those Days._

JOSHUA xx. 6.

_And let another take his Office._

PSALM cix. 8.

[Illustration]

    Thou who, elated with Success,
      Immortal claim’st to be,
    From Men’s Affairs, in little Space,
      Thyself remov’d shalt see.

    Though now the great High-Priest thou art,
      And in Rome’s See dost sit,
    Soon shall thy Office, in thy Place,
      A Successor admit.




The EMPEROR.


_Set thine House in Order; for thou shalt die, and not live._

ISAIAH xxxviii. 1.

_There shalt thou die, and there the Chariots of thy Glory shall be the
Shame of thy Lord’s House._

ISAIAH xxii. 18.

[Illustration]

    Dispose thy Kingdom’s great Concerns
      Intrusted to thy Care,
    So that to pass to other Worlds
      Thou quickly may’st prepare.

    For when the Time shall come that thou
      Shalt quit this mortal Throne,
    Thy utmost Glory then shall be
      A broken Car alone.




The KING.


_He that is To-Day a King To-Morrow shall die._

ECCLESIASTICUS x. 10.

[Illustration]

    To him who this Day Sceptres sways,
      In costly Pride a King,
    To-Morrow’s Light, with baleful Speed,
      A direful Fate will bring:

    For, him who rules o’er Nations rich,
      And pow’rful Kingdoms guides,
    When Death his Office bids him quit,
      No better Fate betides.




The CARDINAL.


_Which justify the Wicked for Reward, and take away the Righteousness of
the Righteous from him._

ISAIAH v. 23.

[Illustration]

    Woe, grievous Woe, to you, who now
      The impious Man caress;
    Exalt the unjust to Height of Wealth,
      The virtuous Man oppress.

    Who seek the World’s fallacious Gifts
      To gain without Delay,
    And the true Path of Righteousness
      Desire to take away.




The EMPRESS.


_Those that walk in Pride he is able to abase._

DANIEL iv. 37.

[Illustration]

    Ye, also, who in glitt’ring Pomp
      Of haughty State are plac’d,
    A Day shall see wherein yourselves
      Of bitter Death shall taste:

    For, as the Grass by Travellers
      Is trodden on the Ground,
    So Death shall tread you under Foot,
      And all your Joys confound.




The QUEEN.


_Rise up, ye Women that are at Ease; hear my Voice, ye careless
Daughters; give Ear unto my Speech. Many Days and Years shall ye be
troubled._

ISAIAH xxxii. 9 & 10.

[Illustration]

    Hither, ye Ladies of Renown,
      And Matrons rich, repair;
    For Death to you now clearly tells,
      A mortal Tribe ye are.

    When the glad Years and empty Joys
      Of this vain World are past,
    The Pain of Death will sure disturb
      Your Bodies frail at last.




The BISHOP.


_I will smite the Shepherd, and the Sheep of the Flock shall be scattered
abroad._

MATTHEW xxvi. 31. MARK xiv. 27.

[Illustration]

    The Pastor, void of all Defence,
      My Pow’r, says Death, shall own;
    By me, his Mitre and his Staff,
      Shall to the Ground be thrown.

    His Sheep, their Pastor thus remov’d,
      By Death’s fell Pow’r, away,
    Shall be dispersed ev’ry one,
      To prowling Wolves a Prey.




The ELECTOR, or PRINCE of the Empire.


_The Prince shall be clothed with Desolation, and the Hands of the People
of the Land shall be troubled._

EZEKIEL vii. 27.

[Illustration]

    Come, mighty Prince, now quick resign
      Thy perishable Joys,
    Thy fleeting Glory, and the rest
      Of Earth’s delusive Toys.

    Lo, I alone the Pride of Kings
      Am able to repress;
    The splendid Pomps of regal State
      My Pow’r supreme confess.




The ABBOT.


_He shall die without Instruction, and in the Greatness of his Folly he
shall go astray._

PROVERBS v. 23.

[Illustration]

    This Instant, Wretch, thou shalt depart,
      Consign’d to mould’ring Dust;
    Because thou knew’st not, only feign’dst,
      The Wisdom of the Just.

    The Abundance of thy Folly great,
      Did blindly thee deceive,
    And made thee seek the sinful Path,
      Which thou could’st never leave.




The ABBESS.


_Wherefore I praised the Dead which are already dead, more than the
Living which are yet alive._

ECCLESIASTES iv. 2.

[Illustration]

    Better it is to die than live,
      I constantly have taught;
    Since human Life with anxious Care,
      And various Ills is fraught.

    Ungrateful Death me now compels
      The like sad Path to tread,
    With those whom in the silent Grave
      The Fates severe have laid.




The GENTLEMAN.


_What Man is he that liveth, and shall not see Death? Shall he deliver
his Soul from the Hand of the Grave?_

PSALM lxxxix. 48.

[Illustration]

    What Man is he, however brave,
      Of mightiest Pow’r possest,
    Who in this mortal World shall live,
      And Death shall never taste?

    What Man is he who Death’s fell Dart,
      Which conquers all, can brave?
    Who his own Life, by Force or Skill,
      From Death can hope to save?




The CANON.


_Behold, the Hour is at Hand._

MATTHEW xxvi. 45.

[Illustration]

    By Crowds attended to the Choir
      Thou now dost bend thy Way;
    Come on, and, with suppliant Voice,
      Thy humblest Homage pay:

    For, thee the Fates do loud demand,
      And instant Death does crave;
    A Day, which no one can retard,
      Shall force thee to the Grave.




The JUDGE.


_I will cut off the Judge from the Midst thereof._

AMOS ii. 3.

[Illustration]

    You who false Judgment do pronounce,
      For filthy Lucre’s Sake,
    From Midst of Crowds and Judgment-Seat,
      I, Death, will quickly take.

    To Fate’s just Laws ye must submit,
      Nor ye, alone, contest
    That pow’r which every Son of Man
      Has hitherto confest.




The ADVOCATE.


_A prudent Man foreseeth the Evil, and hideth himself: But the Simple
pass on, and are punished._

PROVERBS xxii. 3.

[Illustration]

    The crafty Man the Crime perceives,
      The Guilty does protect;
    The Cause of just but needy Men,
      He ever does reject.

    The Poor and Guiltless are oppress’d
      By Justice’ vain Pretence,
    And Gold, than Laws, is found to have
      A greater Influence.




The COUNSELLOR, or MAGISTRATE.


_Whoso stoppeth his Ears at the Cry of the Poor, he also shall cry
himself, but shall not be heard._

PROVERBS xxi. 13.

[Illustration]

    The Rich and Wealthy readily
      To Suiters rich give Ear,
    And scorn the poor and needy Man,
      His Pray’r refuse to hear:

    But when themselves, in the last Hour,
      To God shall earnest cry,
    Their anxious Pray’rs he shall reject,
      And their Request deny.




The CURATE, or PREACHER.


_Woe unto them that call Evil Good, and Good Evil; that put Darkness for
Light, and Light for Darkness; that put Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for
Bitter._

ISAIAH v. 20.

[Illustration]

    Woe to you impious Hypocrites,
      Who Evil Goodness term;
    And Evil to be truly Good,
      With equal Fraud affirm:

    Who Dark for Light, with Falsehood great,
      And Light for Dark embrace;
    Bitter for Sweet who substitute,
      And Sweet for Bitter place.




The PRIEST.


_I myself also am a mortal Man, like to all._

WISDOM vii. 1.

[Illustration]

    The holy Sacrament, behold,
      Celestial Gift, I bear,
    The sick Man, at the Hour of Death,
      With certain Hope to cheer.

    Ev’n I myself am mortal too,
      And the same Laws obey,
    And shall like him, when Time shall come,
      To Death be made a Prey.




The FRIAR MENDICANT.


_Such as sit in Darkness, and in the Shadow of Death, being bound in
Affliction and Iron._

PSALM cvii. 10.

[Illustration]

    Some Men, the World to circumvent
      By Fraud and Falsehood try,
    By feign’d Religion, Sin to hide
      From ev’ry mortal Eye:

    Of Piety an ardent love
      They outwardly profess;
    But inwardly they are the Sink
      Of all Voluptuousness:

    But when the End shall be at Hand,
      They like Reward shall have,
    And Death, by Myriads, shall mow down
      The Wicked to the Grave.




The CANONESS.


_There is a Way which seemeth Right unto a Man; but the End thereof are
the Ways of Death._

PROVERBS xiv. 12.

[Illustration]

_An Apostrophe to DEATH._

    Why dost thou, pale and envious Death,
      A sacred Maid affright?
    Small Glory to thee can arise
      From Victories so slight.

    Go hence, let sick or aged Men
      Thy fatal Dart employ;
    But let this Virgin, innocent,
      Life’s Pleasures long enjoy.

    Pleasure and Joy her jocund Youth
      Should ardently pursue;
    The Pleasures of the Marriage-Bed
      To her gay Youth are due.




The OLD WOMAN.


_Death is better than a bitter Life or continual Sickness._

ECCLESIASTICUS xxx. 17.

[Illustration]

    Long has my Life most irksome been,
      Oppress’d with Care and Pain;
    No anxious Wish my Bosom fires
      Here longer to remain.

    My certain Judgment does pronounce,
      Better to die than live;
    For Death to Minds worn out with Care
      Glad Peace and Rest will give.




The PHYSICIAN.


_Physician, heal thyself._

LUKE iv. 23.

[Illustration]

    Diseases well thou understand’st,
      And cures canst well apply,
    Which to the Sick, in Time of Need,
      Will welcome Health supply.

    But while, O dull and stupid Wretch,
      Thou others Fates dost stay,
    Thou’rt ignorant what fell Disease
      Shall hurry thee away.




The ASTROLOGER.


_Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the Number of
thy Days is great?_

JOB xxxviii. 21.

[Illustration]

    Thou, by contemplating a Sphere
      Which Heav’n’s bright Face does show,
    Events which shall to others chance,
      Pretendest to foreknow.

    Tell me, if thou of Fates to come
      A skilful Prophet art,
    When to the Tomb the Hand of Death
      Shall urge thee to depart?

    Behold the Sphere, which to thy View
      My Right-Hand now does hold,
    By that the Fate which thou shalt find
      May better be foretold.




The MISER.


_Thou Fool, this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee: Then whose
shall those things be which thou hast provided?_

LUKE xii. 20.

[Illustration]

    This Night shall Death, with Iron Hand,
      Thee, griping Wretch, subdue;
    And in the narrow Grave entomb’d,
      To-Morrow thee shall view.

    Therefore, when thou, of Life depriv’d,
      Shalt far from hence be gone,
    What Successor shall thy vast Heaps
      Of endless Riches own?




The MERCHANT.


_The getting of Treasures by a lying Tongue, is a Vanity tossed to and
fro of them that seek Death._

PROVERBS xxi. 6.

[Illustration]

    A foolish Part he sure pursues,
      Who Wealth by Fraud and Lies
    T’ accumulate, and num’rous Goods
      To gain unjustly tries.

    For Death entangled in the Snare,
      To seize him shall not fail;
    And these his Actions most unjust
      Shall cause him to bewail.




The SHIPWRECK.


_But they that will be rich, fall into Temptation, and a Snare, and
into many foolish and hurtful Lusts, which drown Men in Destruction and
Perdition._

1 TIMOTHY vi. 9.

[Illustration]

    That worldly Goods they may procure,
      And Wealth immense obtain,
    Their Breasts Men hourly will expose,
      Temptations to sustain.

    But Men whom Dangers thus surround,
      Fortune compels to bend
    Their Footsteps to those beaten Paths
      Which to Destruction tend.




The KNIGHT, or SOLDIER.


_In a Moment shall they die, and the People shall be troubled at
Midnight, and pass away: And the Mighty shall be taken away without Hand._

JOB xxxiv. 20.

[Illustration]

    Against the Man who Wars excites,
      And does mild Peace despise,
    (Peace, that to all great Blessings brings)
      The People shall arise:

    To Courage only they shall trust,
      This Tyrant fierce to tame;
    And fall he shall, but by a Stroke
      No human Hand shall aim;

    For him who, to oppress Mankind,
      Shall mighty Arms employ,
    Resistless Death shall suddenly
      By an ill Fate destroy.




The COUNT.


_For when he dieth, he shall carry nothing away: His Glory shall not
descend after him._

PSALM xlix. 17.

[Illustration]

    None of those Honours which the Great
      And Mighty now attend,
    When Death shall cast them from their Seat,
      Shall to the Grave descend.

    No Ensigns of a glorious Race
      They thither shall convey,
    Nor Titles high; for in the Grave
      They nought but Dust shall be.




The OLD MAN.


_My Breath is corrupt, my Days are extinct, the Graves are ready for me._

JOB xvii. 1.

[Illustration]

    Exhausted Strength my feeble Nerves
      No longer now does brace,
    And, like a River’s rapid Stream,
      My Life flows out apace.

    The Time, which no One can recall,
      How swift a Flight has ta’en!
    And nothing but the silent Tomb
      For me does now remain.

    Tir’d of the Ills of a long Life,
      And sick of all its Cares,
    For speedy Death I now address
      To Heav’n my anxious Pray’rs.




The COUNTESS.


_They spend their Days in Wealth, and in a Moment go down to the Grave._

JOB xxi. 13.

[Illustration]

    In num’rous Joys their rapid Life
      The thoughtless Virgins waste,
    And ev’ry Kind of Pleasure seek
      With Eagerness to taste.

    From Cares and Sorrow they are free,
      No Thought their Minds to tire,
    A vacant Life, full fraught with Bliss,
      They earnestly desire.

    But in the Grave they shall be laid,
      By Death’s all-piercing Dart,
    Where he their Pleasures exquisite
      Shall into Grief convert.




The NEW-MARRIED COUPLE.


_The Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but Death part thee and
me._

RUTH i. 17.

[Illustration]

    This is true Love, and this alone,
      Which Two in One conjoins,
    And in Affection’s strongest Bands
      And mutual Friendship binds.

    This Union shall, alas! endure
      By much too short a Time;
    One Death severe can two divide
      Whom Bands of Wedlock join.




The DUTCHESS.


_Thou shalt not come down off that Bed on which thou art gone up, but
shalt surely die._

2 KINGS i. 16.

[Illustration]

    From the soft Bed, O youthful Maid,
      Whereon thy Limbs now lie,
    Permission ever to arise,
      The cruel Fates deny:

    For first shall Death thy lifeless Limbs
      Subdue without Remorse,
    And his fell Scythe shall to the Grave
      Consign thy breathless Corse.




The PORTER.


_Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give
you Rest._

MATTHEW xi. 28.

[Illustration]

    Hither advance, ye weary Throng,
      And quick my Steps attend,
    Who under Loads of so great Weight,
      With weary Shoulders bend.

    Traffic and Gain your anxious Thoughts
      Did long enough possess,
    Your Breasts the Cares which these produce
      No longer shall distress.




The PEASANT.


_In the Sweat of thy Face shalt thou eat Bread._

GENESIS iii. 19.

[Illustration]

    Bread for thyself, by Labour great,
      Thou shalt thyself obtain;
    And from the Ground, without great Toil,
      No Sustenance shalt gain.

    After long Use of Things below,
      And num’rous Labours past,
    Pale Death to all thy Cares and Toils
      Shall put an End at last.




The CHILD.


_Man that is born of a Woman, is of few Days, and full of Trouble. He
cometh forth like a Flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a Shadow,
and continueth not._

JOB xiv. 1.

[Illustration]

    Man, who conceiv’d in the dark Womb,
      Into the World is brought,
    Is born to Times with Misery,
      And various Evil fraught.

    And as the Flow’r soon fades and dies,
      However fair it be,
    So sinks he also to the Grave,
      And like a Shade does flee.




The SWISS SOLDIER.


_When a strong Man armed keepeth his Palace, his Goods are in Peace. But
when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh
from him all his Armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his Spoils._

LUKE xi. 21, 22.

[Illustration]

    Undaunted and secure in Arms,
      While Strength and Life remain,
    The brave his Mansions, and his Wealth
      In Safety shall maintain.

    But Death with greater Force shall wage
      Against him War ere long,
    And, for the Grave, shall cause him quit
      His Post, no longer strong.




The GAMESTERS.


_For what is a Man profited, if he shall gain the whole World, and lose
his own Soul?_

MATTHEW xvi. 26.

[Illustration]

    If the destructive Art of Dice
      Could Wealth immense insure,
    Or Man the World by Dice could gain,
      What Good would it procure?

    His Soul this Practice will destroy,
      Entangled in its Snare,
    A Loss which no Art, Fraud, or Chance,
      Is able to repair.




The DRUNKARDS.


_And be not drunk with Wine, wherein is Excess._

EPHESIANS v. 18.

[Illustration]

    With Wine’s Excess your Souls to drench,
      Ye mortal Throng, forbear;
    For Luxury of every Kind,
      And raging Lust is there.

    Lest Death assail you unprepar’d,
      Oppress’d with Sleep and Wine,
    And, in a Vomit soul, your Souls
      Compel you to resign.




The FOOL.


_He goeth after her as an Ox goeth to the Slaughter, or as a Fool to the
Correction of the Stocks._

PROVERBS vii. 22.

[Illustration]

    No Life so sweet as to be mad,
      And no one Thing to know;
    But this is far remov’d from best,
      As Mad-men’s Actions shew.

    Secure of Fate the witless Fool
      Like sportive Lambkins treads,
    And knows not that his ev’ry Step
      To Death’s sad Portals leads.




The THIEF.


_O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me._

ISAIAH xxxviii. 14.

[Illustration]

    Men to destroy with fell Intent,
      The Thief by Night does rise;
    But now to spoil an aged Dame
      Of a full Basket tries.

    I suffer Wrong, she cries, and God
      Sends Death to her Relief,
    Who, by the Hangman’s certain Gripe,
      Strangles the greedy Thief.




The BLIND MAN.


_If the Blind lead the Blind, both shall fall into the Ditch._

MATTHEW xv. 14.

[Illustration]

    The blind Man to a Guide as blind
      Himself does here commit;
    Both wanting Sight, they here descend
      Into the fatal Pit.

    For, while the Man does vainly hope
      Success his Steps attends,
    Into the Darkness of the Grave
      He suddenly descends.




The CHARIOTEER.


_And he sunk down in his Chariot._

2 KINGS ix. 24.

[Illustration]

    The Charioteer, by Horses fierce,
      Is rapid whirl’d along;
    The Reins they scorn, while Fear of Death
      Contends with Reason strong.

    The rapid Wheel at length torn off,
      The Axle overthrows;
    While, from the Casks, the precious Wine
      In copious Torrents flows.




The BEGGAR.


_O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from the Body of this
Death?_

ROMANS vii. 24.

[Illustration]

    He that from hence to be releas’d,
      With Christ to live, desires,
    Despises Death, and to the Stars
      In Words like these aspires:

    Who from this mortal Body will
      Me wretched Man release;
    And snatch me Wretch! from this vile World,
      To Realms of purest Peace?




The HUSBAND.


_What taketh away the Life? Even Death._

ECCLESIASTICUS xxxi. 27[20].

_Remember that Death will not be long in coming._

ECCLESIASTICUS xiv. 12.

[Illustration]

    The Tyrant Death, O Husband fond,
      The worst of all its Foes,
    Is to our Life and its short Course,
      With constant Steps pursues.

    Reflect then in thy Prime of Life
      (Life’s transitory Day)
    That to thy End it thee conducts
      By gradual Decay.

[20] The Original of this Passage has no corresponding Words in the
Translation of the Bible now in Use, and the above is therefore inserted
from the former Translation.




The WIFE.


_Of the Woman came the Beginning of Sin, and through her we all die._

ECCLESIASTICUS xxv. 4.

[Illustration]

    From Eve, the Mother of Mankind,
      Our Parent Adam’s Wife,
    Sprang Sin, and thence fell Death arose,
      The Enemy of Life.

    Let not, howe’er, thy tender Mind
      To Grief a Victim fall,
    If Death should thee to quit this World,
      Like other Mortals, call.




The LAST JUDGMENT.


_We shall all stand before the Judgment-Seat of Christ._

ROMANS xiv. 10.

_Watch therefore, for ye know not what Hour your Lord doth come._

MATTHEW xxiv. 42.

[Illustration]

    For all his Actions to account,
      By God’s express Command,
    Each Man before the Judgment-Seat
      Of the just Judge shall stand.

    Let us be therefore vigilant,
      Lest, when that Time shall come,
    God, for our Actions, should pronounce
      A just but angry Doom.

    And since when that Hour shall arrive,
      No Mortal can declare;
    For its Approach the pious Man
      Will watch and well prepare.




_Whatsoever thou takest in Hand, remember the End, and thou shalt never
do amiss._

ECCLESIASTICUS vii. 36.

[Illustration]

    Spotless to live if thou desir’st,
      And free from every Vice,
    Let this Memorial constantly
      Be placed before thine Eyes.

    For it will often thee remind,
      That Death will soon arrive,
    And frequent Thought to all thy Acts
      Will a due Caution give.

    Vouchsafe, O Christ, with Heart sincere,
      That we thy Paths may tread,
    And that to all the heav’nly Path
      May thus be open made.




_As by one Man Sin entered into the World, and Death by Sin; and so Death
passed upon all Men, for that all have sinned._

ROMANS v. 12.


_FINIS._