ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Production Note
Digital Rare Book Collections Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign 2015
QL NOIS
Pf«*K1>M MM»
á
■'4
‘I
■ ■; ^
>1
’.-I
Hi.'"T-i'tjHWWlTT1111in-ttyum	■>'«J-V. V' ■>•<'■ ’'-*'•* V	v-f
>.fca \l :.:>r £
illjliilSi
liWASii ••..IrVW v c: >•: 4-AC;
.. -	. -•» . vV^*‘T'-' ; v. ~ Ji; *'°,v V -*•: n • ; . , ,*>. s4 " ■	•' . ; .;•- : . ;.**• >"• 'M
•V*^ 'i r-V?^A‘VO.-- vi V' * - ls-k•■- \r \ r\H *v***•	,.\: y-.\
■	;<\ A- • '. ■•-	-:'
■”W*V • '.v ••*' '--' V» % \ y •„.; I'Vv'-'-V'-'^- "J " ^ h?.'-'* V ;	. .^.Sv v '• mV^A*' •:. 7 V .v' :	v-\r :'■ v- •
fc® : ;:- --';':^.r:;^^V: v V'^S W
WK®.• '•. -••.,.--W’;\-a -•• ».,• v-sV vVvx,-• .• •; ;. -ar-• • >:•.- >-;-■?••<:
-• . ••- ■•■ . ; : . ■• • •' ’‘V A-v ;: J >> • .•'	' V 'v.--^ ./■' ?> ".t. A • -“V^V ■^-,- i - :-j
I •-■'•••. •■'■•■,- v:^ ::	. : v ' i g:
fe.....^ I	1 ,§S\451
>. V-. P-
!K
wl
L«1
p mm i
, » *)V £ \ ~ • .;**• ‘ x , •:v*i'	'* * i**-' ••"T's ""'T-Vv • > a	‘ v”*-' — ' -..\ r*'*\ ix-v.- >^-C\V »* ‘ v^V '\ %'v A**^’ '' ’A'■'J*; ; v - s\-.^v V v' ,V :.X>- ‘ ■ ’ . .>* , A*
"S-m•;^S^Es@jBB|®0^yE*HtW-■•■''■	> ?■ , J.
IB 1
,. t -. ;! \. Wvn »A.«' '>• ^ ;*. •*•' ''-O .i.( -a'-V Vk •• -'.v- ■ ..^ .	■'' ■ ' -.. .' .'•'-.•-.- •: "‘V;v'. . -.^ - - cvj' >A.<-^. •r ••%!■
v.-'.-" .. r^2r^tJ»
'% >v	v:-- |^$h I: m£§ - Ji
Wpi.I I^lgggsii^gw^
t
.1S.11*1 UPWARDS QJF FI FTY CUTS,
B j	‘ H '
«b As (f Aii It RANKS ANO 01C REES
of the aj?d:ve* and other. Paintings on this Subjed^EMBLEMS
O	F
MORTALITY;
RE P R ES E N TI NO,
IN UPWARDS QF FIFTY CUTS,
D EAT H
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, tranflated from the Latin and French,
Intended as well for the Information of the Curious, as the Inftru£tion and Entertainment of Youth.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
A copious Preface, containing an hiftorical Account of the above, and other Paintings on this Subject, now or lately exifting in divers Parts of Europe.
L O N D O N :
Printed for T. Hodgson, in George’s-Court, St. John’s-Lane, Clerkenwell,
MDCCLXXXIX.PREFACE.
HE Work here prefented to the Header is
a Copy, with a fmall Variation noticed hereafter^ as to the Cuts, and aTranflatitin, as to the Letter Prefs, of one well known to the Curious by the Title of Imagines Mortis, or 3 he Images of Death \ which is reported to be in reality indebted for its Exiftence to an Event that Boccace did but feign as the Occafioh of writing his Decameron ; I mean the Calamity of a Plague : And its Hiftory is as follows.
Pope Eugenius IV. having fummoned a Council to meet at the City of Bafie., or, as it is more ufually called, Bafil, in Switzerland ; it accordingly met there in the Year 1431, and continued to {it for Seventeen Years, Nine Months, and Twenty-Seven Days, or, according to Mr. Walpole*, but Fifteen Years in the whole; and at this Council the Pope himfelf, and after his Death his Succeflor
*	Anecdotes of Painting, 8vo. Vol. I. P. 1*3.
✓ A A
Felix[ * ]
Felix V.' SiGiSMO-Ni> Emperor of Germany, Albert II. then King of the Romans, and many other Princes and Perfons of diftinguifhed Rank were prefent. During the Sitting of this Council, viz., in the Year 1439, City, of Bafil was vifited with a Plague/ which raged for fome Time with extreme Violence, and carried off many of the Nobility, and feveral Cardinals and Prelates who attended that Council, fome of whom were interred in the very Cemetery where the Painting, of which we are about to fpeak, now is; and, on the CefTation of the Diftemper, the furviving Members of the Council, with' a View to perpetuate the Memory of this Event, and of their providential Deliverance from its EfFe&s, caufed 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 Perfons, from the Pope to the Pea-fant, as individually feized by £>eath; adding alfo to each Figure eight Lines^ in German, four of them containing an Addrefs from Death to them feverally, the other four their Reply. The Name of the Painter employed on this Oc-cafion has not been tranfmitted down to us with Certainty ; but fome Perfons have imagined that this Painting was the Work of Hans Holbein : Whether it were done by him or another, (hall be hereafter coofidered j but, in the meaaTime,
wgt * 3
we ftiall hefe '.{frdce^d to refate the fubfequent Hiftory of the Paintingitfelf.
It is, however, tobe obferved, that Matthew Merian, who, in 1649, publifhed in German, '■at Franck fort, in fmall Quarto, a Book entitled TodTBn TaKZ, or ■Death's Dance, containing Engravings from the above-mentioned Painting*, and frbm the Preface to whofe Wojk»"ax tranfla-fedinto French, in an Edition printed at Bafil in 1744, moft of the foregoing Fa£fcs are extracted, does hot fpeak in pofitive Teriiis as to the precife Time when the original Figures were painted, -blit only fays, that they are believed, and with igreat Probability, to be of thjtt Time in which he had placed them ; in further Confirmation of which he has noticed, that Sigismond was
*	As it ihay afford the Reader foitte Satisfaftion to Be informed particularly what Char&fters are reprefented n$ this Fainting, we here igive a Lift of 5thdm from Me*ian’s Engravings mentioned in the Text: At the Beginning is a Cut of Oicolom padi us preaching; next follows one of a Charnel-Honfe, aiid two Figures "of Death piping; after Which, in diftinft 'Cuts, are given the Pope, Emperor, Emprefs, King, Queen, Cardinal, Bifhop, Duke, Duchefs, Count, Abbot, Knight, Lawyer, Magiftrate, Canon, Phyfician, Gentleman, Lady, Merchant, Abbefs, Cripple, Hermit, Young Man, Uforer, Maiden, Mufician, Herald, Mayor, Grand Provoft, Buffoon, Pedlar, filind Man, J ew, Pagan, Female Pagan, Cook, Peafant, Painter, Painter’s Wife.
himfelfHi
L > ]
himfelf a Lover and extraordinary-Patron <5f the Arts, and had always about him a Number of Artifts ; and that John ab Eyck, the Inventor of Oil Painting, flourHhed in his Reign; but Mr. Warton * has related (though it does not appear on what Authority) not only that Holb ein was the Painter, but that the Subje& in Question was jpainted in 1543 ; in which I conceive him mifinformed:;For Merian was, as he him-felf tells us, a Native of Bafil, arid p'offiMy* might have had his Account,by Tradition * and, had the Painting been of no earlier a Date than y>43> % *s hardly probable (confidering too- that it is in Oilj) that it fhould have been fo muchiiv jured by Time as to ftand in Need, as we find it didv of an almoft total Repair in 1568 : To all j;which I add, that Merian feems fo well fati£-fied of the Trutlj of his Account, that he tells us: further .tliat^ thevFig^fes.jWejre dr^wn /r«m ■Nature, and are drefled each in the Habit of this Time; and that thofe of the Pope, Emperor, and King, are refpe&ively Portraits of Felix V. who fuccefeded Eugenius IV. Sigismonn,Emr 1 peror of Germany, and Albert II. King of the Romans; all of whom,1 as we have before remarked, were prefcnt at the Council-
*	Hiftery of P'oetry, Vol. II. P. 54* in a Note-
]Vfr.t * ]
Mr. Walpole * mentions that this Painting was repaired in 1,529 ; but in this he feems to have been mifled (accidentally taking one Date irifteaa of another) by a t’kfTage ih the Pi-eface to Median’s Book before cited. MeriAn informs us, that the Palhting in Qiieftion having Ibeen much injured by iTiniieJofiN HbGH KlAu-beR, a Painter, arid Citizen of Bafil, was, in 1568, employed to repair it; khd thSf,'fihilittTg a vacancy on the Wall lbffitietit for his Purpofe, lie added at the Head of the Painting a Portrait of JoHAfJNks Oecolompadius, iri Memory of tfre Reformation in 152'g, to which hifc preaching th'e Gofpel. to all Ranks, as he did, might be fuppbfed in fohife fmall Degree to contribute ; arid, at the End of the Painting, on another Part of the Wall, he added the Portraits of himfelf, his Wife, aritl his Children: And this Repair by iClaus£r, Merian tells us further, was commemorated in & Latin Tablet, Which in his Time hung near the Painting. Some Time after, it was again repaired, and fo, without any further Repair, it continued till Merian’s Timev but KkY’stER, who vifited it in 1729, in his Travels, Vol. I. P. 171, fedit. «8vo. 1760^. relates, that the origirial Colours were then totally effaced, that only the On tithes of the Fi-
*	AnecHotts of Painting, 8vb. Vol. I. P. 123,.
A 3 '	gures[
J
aures were left, and that it had then been lately repaired.	i • « -
The Thought of this allegorical Reprefentation of Death, though in the prefent Inftance immediate!/ fuggefted by the Even^ above relatedwas not {p itfel'f original, but borrowed, in fome Measure from a Kind of Mafquerade, which Mr. .Waju'ON * ofeferves was anciently celebrated in,- l the C^irches abroad, particularly thofe of France (and, among others, it feems to have been performed in. St. Innocent’s Church at Paris) and in. which all Ranks and Degrees of Perfons were perfonated by the; EcdefiaflicS of thofe Churches,, who all danced together, and then difappqared * and it is certain- that before the. Calamity above-mentioned happened at Bafil,, and confequently before, this Painting there was begun, Allufions to a Dance, of Death occurred in the Writings of, the Authors of the Time, in Reference, .no Doubt,, to that Kind of Mafqyerade. It were, needlefs to introduce a Number of Quotations to fupport this Afler-tion ; but as fome Proof may, perhaps, be expe&ed, I here infert hom- Xhe .Vtjton of Piers Plowman, written about 1350, the following Paflage, with which Mr. Warton’s Blft. of Poetry, Vol. IL P. 54, has furnifhed me
Wpry oj Poetry, Vol. I. P. 210.
E5BS5-------t vu ]
u Dfrath came driving after, and all toT)u£ pa(hrd “ Kings and Csfefars, Knights and Popes.’*
And I further find that, feveral Years prior to the, Breaking out of this Plague at Bafil; the Idea had even, been carried into Execution ; for that in 1.384,. a Death’s Dance had been painted at Mrnden, in Weftphalia*: But, no fooner had this Painting at Bafil been finifhed, and become, as it very foon after did, univerfally celebrated all over Europe, but the Dance of Death became ra very favourite Subje&, and was frequently painted in public Buildings: The earlieft In-ftance which has yet occurred, fubfequent to the Painting at Bafil, is one which Mr. Warton.+ •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, fpeak> ;ing of Lubec, gives the following Account
“But the moft noted Thing in St. Mary’s u Church is the Painting called Death’s Dance, fo “ much talked of in all Parts of Germany. lit “ was originally drawn in 1463, but the Figures ^ were repaired?at different Times, as in 1588, ** 1642, and laft of all in 170 i. Here, you fee the « Reprefentation of Death leading an Emperor ** in his imperial Robes, who with his, other Hand
*Warxoj\'s Hift, of Poetry 1 Vol. II. P. 54. + Ibid. -
“takesC viii ]
u tafces hold of fu£h ahoftie'r Figure, which leads up a King; and fo alternately a Figure of “ Death and a human PerforTthlroogh ail Condi-“ tions and Siages of Life. The Intention of the “ Artift was to feeW that Death pays no Regard to u Age or Condition, which is more particularly M fesprefled in the Verfes underneath. They wfere w com^ofed at fifft in Plat Detrtch, or Low Dutch; M but at the laft Repair, in 1701, it was thought “ proper to change them for German Verfes,
*	which Were written by NATtiANi ex Scmlott, ** *of tDantzick.” Of theft Verfes Dr. Nug ent has mfeited a Tranflfctton from the okiginal Gilman, b.y a Lady of Dantzkk, frorti which it appears that the Originals confift of, ftrft, ah A^toftraphe of Death to aH, arid then an Addrefs of Death to orie Individual; thien follows his Reply; after that; -Death’s Addrefs to another ; next, his Reply ; and fo on. It further appears from the Tranflation, that the Chara<5feers deli-Eteated in the Painting are the following: The Pope, Emperor, Emprefs, Cardinal, King, Biftiop,, General, Abbe; Knight, Carthufian, Brirgomafter, Prebendary, Nobleman> Phyfician, Ufurer, Chaplain, Steward, Church-Warden, Tradefman, Reel life, Peafant, Young Man, Maiden, Infant, Dancing-Mafter, and Fencing-Mafter.
InIn Addition to this Inftance we learn, that, in the Reign of Henry the Sixth, one JenkeN Carpenter caufed to be painted at his Expence on the Walls of the Cloifter of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London*, the Z)«»«(j/Machabray, or Dance of Death t; and it is more than pro-
*	Formerly called Pardon Church-Yard, about which, fays We ever, Ancient Funeral Monuments, ^to Edition, 1767* P. 168, “ was artificially and richly painted, the Dance of
Death commonly called the Dance of Paul's; the Pifture ** of Death leading all E^i.alcs.,,
The above Jenken Carpenter was Executor to Sir Richard Whittington, and hada Licence granted'him, Anno 1430, 8 Hen. VI. to eitablilh upon the Charnel-Houfe of St. Paul’s a Chaplain, to have eight Marks a Year.
Weever, ilbi fupra.
+ Stow’; Survey of London, Edit. 4to. i6i8, P. 616. An Engraving of it is inferted in Dugdale’j Hifl. of.St:. Paul's, Edit. 1658, P. 290,and under it are given Lydgate’s Verfes, which he obferves at the End he had tranflated,
“ Not Word by Word, but following in Subftance.”
The Chara filers, as may be collefted from the Titles to the Verfes, are the Pope, Emperor, Cardinal, King, Patriarch, Conftable, Arcbbilhop, Baron, Princefs, Bifhop, Squire, Abbot, Abbefs, Bailiff, Aftronomer, Burgefs, Canon Secular, Merchant, Chartreux, Serjeant, Monk, Ufurer, Phyficiaii, Amorous Squire, Gentlewoman, Man of Law, Mr. John Rekill Tregetour, e. Jugler. Seethe GlofTary to Urrv’s Chaucer, Art. Treget\ Parl'on,Juror,Minftrel, Labourer,Friar Minor,' Child, Young Clerk, Hermit, the King eaten of
Worms, Machabree the Do&or.-Dugd ale, P. 132, fays
that Carpenter was a Citizen of London, and that the Painting at St. Paul’s was in Imitation of that in the Cloifler adioinintr to St. Innocent’s Church-Yard, in Paris.
bablec * a
bable that the celebrated Painting of the fame 'Kftidin St. Innocent^‘Church, in'Paris, in like Manner owes its Original tothe fainting at Bafil.
Nor are thefe the ohly Inftaricesin which this Subje&fhas been chofen for tVe Decoration of Buildings ^ %r in ‘it was *painted at Arina-berg, and in 1,534, in the "Caftie or Palace at Drefden; as it alfb was, though when is unknown, at Leipfic and other Places *.
The feme Inclination in Favour of this Subject began alfo, very foon after the Painting in Queftion was known, to difcover itfelf in literary Publications, and in the Decorations and Ornaments of Books. One Macaber, a French or German -Poet, but of what iEra is uncertain, Wrote in ’German a Poem dri the Subject of Death’s Dance, which, in ‘Confer tjuerice of this <;rrcumftance, is not feldom ‘from ‘him called The Dance 1of Macaber +.
His
, * Warton’s Hijlory of. Poetry, Vol. II. P. 54.
+ Mr. War ton, in tiis Obferv&iionson S?ens% r, firftEdit. P. tijjo, in-a Note, fays, that Mac aber Wrtate a DtffcriptiOn in Verfe' of a Pioceffion, painted on the Walls of St. Innocent's Cloifter, at-Parrs,’caWed the Danar of Death } fo fhat in tJhis Paffage Mr, WAkrbN mu ft be fuppofed to underftand that Ma-c'ab&r’s Verfes were Written pofterior to th*t Painting. He further informs us, in the Additions and!Corre£tions to die
fecond[ xi ]
His Verfes were tranflated into French, and written round the Cloifter of St. Innocent’s, at Paris, under, as I conceive, the before-mentioned Painting j and from this French Tranflation, Lydgate, at the Requefl: of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s *, made a Verfion, which was afterwards infcrihed on the Walls of their Church, under the Painting of the f^tme Subject.
fecond Volume of his Hijlory of Poetry, that the earlieft complete French Tranflation of thefe Verfes was printed in 1499, but that a lefs perfeft Edition had been before publifhed in i486, and that the French Rhymes in this laft are faid to be by Michel Maro.t. . A.Copy in French of La grande Danfe ^Macabre des Hommes et des Femmes, printed in 4to. at Troyes, for John Garnier, but without a Date, I have feen ; and find from the Verfes under each Cut, that the Chara&ers are the Pope, Emperor, Cardinal, King, Legate, Duke, Patriarch, Conftable, Archbifhop, Knight, Bifhop, Squire, Abbot, Bailiff, Aftrologer, Buxgefs, Caijon, Merchant, School-Mafler, Man of Arms,, Chartreux, Serjeant, Monk, Ufurer, Phyficiau, Lover, Advocate, Minftrel, Curate, Labourer, Proftor, Gaoler, Pilgrim, Shepherd, Cordelier, Child, Clerk, Hermit, Adventurer,. Fool. The Women are th^ Queen, Duchefs, Regent’s Wife, Knight’s Wife, Abbcfs, Squire’s Wife, Sbepherdefs, Cripple, Burgefs’s Wife, Widow,, Merchant’s Wife, Bailiff’s Wife, Young Wife, Dainty Dame, Female Philofopher, New-married Wife, Woman with Child, Old Maid, Female Cordelier, Chambermaid, Intelligence-Woman, Hoftefs, Nurfe, Priorefs-, Damfel, Country Girl, Old Chambermaid, Huckfirefs, Strumpet, Nurfe for Lying-in Women, Young Girl, Religiqus, Sorcerefa, Bigot, Fool.
*	Warton’s H'Jl. of Poetry, Vol. II. P. 53.
ItIt would be an endlefs Taik, and afford but little Entertainment to the Reader, to reckon up here a long Lift of Books in which the Subject has been reiterated : We ftiall therefore content ourfelves with mentioning that it appeared in the Chronicle of Hartman^u^ Schedelius, printed - at Nuremberg in 1493, Folio*, ufually called the Nuremberg; Chronicle ;• in the Quotidian Offices of the Church, printed at Paris, 1515, in 8vq f; in feveral Horae, MifTals,&c. and even fo late as in A Booh of Chrijlian Prayers, collected out of the ancient Writers and hejl learned of our Time, firft printed in 4to. 1569, and afterwards in the fame Size in 1608 ; and that, in Addition to all thefe and others which might be mentioned, the Painting at Bafil was the Caufe of the Publication of the Imagines Mortis, frorti which th^ prefent is coped and tranflated, and of which therefore it . will be rieceflary here to give an Account; firft obferving, that the Excellence of the Cuts in the Original, which are here alfo copied with fufficient Fidelity, has induced an Opinion that they were the; Work of Holbein, a Fa£t which we mean hereafter to inquire info.
Papillon, in his Traite hiflorique et pratique de la Gravure en Bqis, 8vo. 1766, Tom. I. P. 166,
* Warton’s Hilary ef Poetry, Vol. II. P. 54. + Ibid.
informsinforms us, that Holbein, having arrived to a great Degree of Perfection in Painting, was eni-■ ployed by a Magiftrate of Bafil to paint a Dance of Death in the F*ifh-Market of that City, near a Cemetery (by which he undoubtedly means 'the Painting at Bafil, of which we have fo often had Occafion to fpeak); that this Work added much to his Reputation; after which he employed his Skill in reducing the original Figures into a fmallSize; and that he afterwards engraved them upon Wood, with a Delicacy and Beauty not to be equalled. But unfortunately Papillgn here fpeaks without fufficient Attention ; for the Painting at Bafil, as may be learnt from Merian’s Engravings before mentioned, and on the Accuracy of which I am aflured by an ingenious Friend, who lately examined them with the Originals, 1 may rely,"Confiift:s of Tingle ^Figures, each led by a Figure of Death, and fol* lowing each other in order, fo as to form a long Procellion : The fame 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 prefent Cuts confift of fe-parate Compartments, each containingOroupes of Figures,Jo-that the prefent Work is by no means merely a Reduction in Size of the Painting at JBafil, but is rather to be confidered as founded on
1	the?the fame Idea, and fuggefted by the Original, than as a Copy from it.
The earlieft Edition of the Imagines Mortis which I have as yet'feen, is one printed, as appears from the Colophon at the End, by Melchior and Gaspar Trechsel, in fmall 4to. at Lyons, in 1,538 : It is in French, and its Title is as follows: . “ Les Simulacbres & Hijioriees “ faces de la Mort, autant elegamment p&urtraifles, “ que artificiellement imaginees: A Lyons, foulz I’Jfcu “ de Cologne.” But Papillon, in Loco fupra cit, tells us, that the Cuts to the Imagines Mortis muft have been done about the Year 1530, for that the four firft of them occur among Holbein’s Cuts to the Old Teftament, printed in 1,539 ; and that it is’apparent from thofe among the Scripture Cuts, that the Block's had then already furnifhed many Thoufands of Impreflions. That the four firft Cuts of the Imagines Mortis are among the Scripture, Cuts of Holbein, is certainly true ; but I think I once faw, in the Hands of a Friend, a Copy of the vulgate Latin Bible, in which thofe Scripture Cuts were inserted, and which, if my Memory does not greatly deceive me, was printed fo early as in or about 1,518 or 1520.
The fame Authof further relates, that the firft Edition, which he thknks for the above Reafons
ihouldfhould be placed in the Year 1530, was printed at Bafil, or Zuric, with a Title to each Cut, and, as he believes, fome Verfes undereach, all in the German Language (.but, that there was an early Edition in Flemifh); and adds, that the Book, having pafled over into France, was much fought after by the Curious there ; fo that a Printer of Lyons wras induced to purchafe the Blocks, and that from them he printed feveral Editions in Latin, French, and Italian1.
Having thus accounted for the Exiftence of the Book, and for its Arrival in France, it remains to fpeak of the feveral Impreflions which it there underwent. We have already mentioned one, the earlieft which we know of,, printed in fmall Quarto, at Lyons, fouh VEfctt de Cologne, by Me lchior 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 Paflage from either the Old or New Teftament or Apocrypha, which, in the prefent Publication, is given in Englifh, from the Tranflation of the Bible now in ufe. Under the Cuts are four Lines in French Verfe, the Subftance of which has been preferved 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 conftitute a Volume) is accom-a 2	paniedC ]
panied with feveral Tra&s in French, which, a* not relating to, or connected with, our prefent Sub-je<£l, we here forbear to enumerate; but it i's ne~ ceffary, before we clofe our Account of this Edition of 15 38, to remark, that it is preceded by a Dedication in French-, to the very Reverend Abbefs of the Religious Convent of St. Peter of Lyons, Ma* dam Jehanne de Touszele ; and in this Dedication the Author of it notices, that the Name and Surname (or, as we term them, the Chriftian and Surname) of the Abbefs and himfelf are precifely the fame in found, excepting only the Letter T, from which I conjedture (for his Name does not any where appear) that his Name was Jean, or, as it was anciently written, Jehan [/. e. John] de Ouszell, or Ozejll, as it is now ufually fpelt. In this Dedication is alfo a PafTage, a Tranflation of which will be given hereafter, ffom which it appears that the Perfon by whom the Cuts were defigned, was then dead, leaving behind him feveral others of the fame Kind, which, though drawti, were unfiniftied, and particularly one reprefenting a Waggoner crufhed under his overthrown Waggon ; in which Cut, a Figure of Death is repre-fented fecretly fucking through a Reed, the Wine out of a Caik; and that to thefe unfiniflied Cuts no one had darfd to put the laft Hand.
The next Edition, in Point of Time, which I
havehave feen, I conceive to have been the firft that appeared in Latin, and it was printed in Duodecimo* at Lyons, fub JcutoCoknienJi, by John and Francis Frellon, in 1542. It contains the fame Number of Cuts (and no more) as that of 1538; and is entitled^ “ Imagines de Morte, et ** Epigrammafa e Galtico idiornate a Georgio JEmyllo ** in Latinum tranflatafrom whence it appears that it is, in Fadl, a Tranflation of the French Edition of 1538. This alfo contains fome additional Tra&s, all differing from thofe in the Edition of 1538, but not in the leaft relating to the prefent Inquiry, and therefore not here particularized, though- they have been continued through alrnoft all the fubfequent Impfeflions, and have been given refpe&ively in French, Latin, and Italian, according as the Verfes under the Cuts to the Imagines Mortis were intone or other of thofe Languages.:
O. ©
In 1547, another Edition was publifhed of this Book, in French ; it was entitled, u Les “ Images de la Mortand' printed at Lyons, A. TLJcu de Cologne, Chez. Jehan Frellon; the Title-Page alfo informs us that twelve Cuts are added to it, and on. Examination we find that the Cuts inflated in Page 40, and the fbven fubfequent Pages of this Work, and four Guts of Boys, which, as not relating to this Subjed, are in the prefent Edition omitted (none of which occur.
a 3	min either the French Edition of 1538, or the Latin one of 1543, the only two prior Editions that J know of) are to be found in this of 1-547'**
In the fame Year, viz. 1547* but whether prior or fubfequent to the laft above mentioned, cannot be known, another Latin Edition appeared* printed at Lyons by the fame John Frellon* and containing the fame increafed Number of Cuts as the French one of the fame Year, that is to fay,1 fifty-three in all; and the fame John Frellon, in 1549, printed an Edition of this Work in Italian and Latin, the Paflages from Scripture over the Gut? being in Latin, and the, Verfes under the Cuts in Italian ; and this alfo contains the fame Number of Cuts with the two, laft-mentioned Editions: But Papillon, P. 169, remarks that the Blocks, when this Edition of 1549 >vas printed, had already furnifhed more than an hundred-thoufand Impreflions, for that in fome Places they appear to be worn.
In 1562, the fame John Frellon publifhed another French Edition, which appears, by the Printer’s Colophon at the End, to have been printed at Lyons by Symshorien Barbier, and which profeiTes in the Title to be augmented
; * It cannot be doubted that thefe additional Cuts ' are thofe mentioned in the Dedication to the Edition of 153,8, a* being then l^ft wnfinilhed, for, among them? is the Cut of the Waggoner there^artieularly defciibed,
with.with feventeen Plates. Papillon,' P. 182* mentions both this Edition and Pieculiarity, but denies the Truth of the AfTertion, becaufe he tells us, that in this French Edition he finds but five more Cuts than in the Italian One of 1549 * notwithftanding which, it is certainly true, as will be prefently proved. Papillon admits that the Edition of 1562 contains fiye Cuts more than that of 1549, and, if he had gone farther back in his Refearch, would have found that that of 1549 (and fo do the French and Latin Editions of 1547} comprizes twelve more than that of 1538, and that thofe twelve were firft added to the French and Latin Editions of 1547, The Edition of 1562/ does not aflert that that contains feventeen Cuts more than any preceding Edition, but, reckoning the five which it has more than the Impreffion of 1549, and the twelve which that has more than the Edition of 1538, and which are alfo inferted in that of 1562, they make together feventeen Cuts more than' were in the Edition of 1538, and confequently juftify the Affertion in the Title, that the Edition of 1562 contains feventeen additional Cuts.
The Succefs which fuch a Number of Editions feems to imply, induced a Bookfeller of Cologne to counterfeit the Book; and, inftead of making ufe of the original Cuts, which, in alt Probability he could not procure, he got Copies* 2	■	andand not very exa& ones, engraven from them for his intended Edition. When the firft counterfeited Edition appeared, I am not informed ; but am induced to think that thi& Perfon, whom I have above defcribed as a Bookfeller of Co** logne, was Arnold BirckmAn, as I find an Edition, printed in 1555, at Cologne, Apud ha* redes Arnoldi Birckmanni. I'n this Edition* and alfo in one printed by the fame Perfons in *573* t^le Cuts are reverfed, the Paffages from Scripture over the Cuts, and alfo the Verfes undep the Cuts, are in Latin ; and both thefe Editions contain the- Number of Cuts in the Latin and French ones of 1547, and no more : In the Cut inferted P. 17, of the prefent Edition, is the following Mark J£ (intended, no doubt, for that of the Engraver) and which was that of Silvius Antoni an us, an Artift of confiderable Merit.
Having thus given the-Hiftory of this celebrated Work, we are now to inquire, in the firft Place, whether the original Painting at Bafil were, or not, painted- by Holbein ; and, in the fecond* whether the Imagines Mortis were either defigned or engraven by him.
As to the firft of- thefe Queftions it is to be ohfetved, that Merman, whom we have above mentioned, has related that this Pi&ure at BafiL was painted during the fitting of the Council
beforebefore mentioned, which met in 1431, and fat either fifteen, according to fome,, or Something more than feventeen Years, according to other Authors; fo that the Painting now under Con-fideration muft 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*: nor do we find that he was ever employed on the Painting at Bafil, even fo much as to retouch it. Hugh Xlauber, who repaired it m 1568, is recorded, and it is not probable that, if it ever had been touched upon by Holbein* that Fa& fhould, in his own native City, have been paffed over in Silence: On the contrary, it is more likely that an Opportunity fhould have been rather fought to reveal itt.
From thefe Confiderations it appears pretty evidently, that Holbein has no Claim to the Painting at Bafil: We now proceed, therefore, to the fecond Inquiry, viz. Whether he either defigned or engraved the original Cuts to the Imagines Mortis, and here it may firft be neceflary to ftate what Reafons there may be for fuppofing them his..	.. , •»
NiCOLAS
*	Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painting, Vol.. I. P.. 123.
+ Keysler, in his Travels before referred to, Vol.,I. P. ,*7t, fpeaking of the Dunce of Death, at Bafil, fays, it is gene* rally reputed to have beea painted by Holbein, who had.
alfoNicolas Borbonius, a Poet contemporary with Holbein, has addreffed. to him an Epigram “ De Morte pifla, a Hanjo PiftorenobiH* from which it is inferred that he painted a Dance of Death\ and Sandrart relates that in the Year 1627, in a Converfation/with Rubens, at which he was prefent, the Imagines Mortis Was filled Holbein’s, as will appear from the following Paflage, tranflated by Mr. Warton fromJoACH. Sandrart, Acadenj.. Pift. Part II. Lib. iii. Cap. 7. P. 241, “ I alfo well remember “ that in the Year 1627, when Paul Rubens “ came to Utrecht to vifit Handorst, being u efcorted both coming from, and returning to ** Amfterdam, by feveral Artifts; as we were in u the Boat, the Converfation fell upon Holt “ bein’s Book of Cuts reprefenting the Dance ® of Death, that Rubens gave them the higheft u Encomiums, advifing me, who was then a “young Man, to fet the higheft Value upon “ them; informing me, at the fame Time, that “ he, in his Youth, had copied them.” Warton’s Ofyfervations on Spenser, firft Edit. P.
alfo drawn and painted a, Death's Dance, and had Likewife painted,- as it were, a Duplicate of this Piece ©n another Houfe,but which Time has entirely obliterated. However,’* adds he, “ for feveral Reafons the Death's Dance near the ** French Church may be prefumed _ not to be Ho l b e i n’s, “ but the Work of another Artift whofe Name was Bock.”
♦Warton’s Gbfervationr on S*snser, VoL 11. P. it 1*7, in the Note.*31, in a Note, where is alfo inferteda Tranflation from the fame Work, P. 238, in the following Words, “ But, in the Fifh-Market there’* £at Bafil] “may be feen his” £Holbein*sJ “ admirable Dance of Peafants, where alfo, in “ the fame public Manner, is (hewn his Dance “ of Death ; where, by a Variety of Figures, it is “ demonftrated that Death fpares neither Popes, “ Emperors, Princes, &c. as may be feen in his “ moft elegant wooden-Cuts of the fame Work.**
In Bullart’s Academic des Sciences, Tom. II. P. 412, is a Paffage, of which the following is a Tranflation: “ Neverthelefs, he” [Holbein] “ has not fent any Thing into the World which is “ not painted with the laft Degree of Perfe&ion. “ The Inhabitants of Bafil have an excellent Wit-“ nefsof this in their To wn-Houfe: It is hisPiece “ of the Dance of Death, which he has reduced “ into Colours, after having engraven them “very neatly on Wood; and which appeared fo “ excellent to the learned Erasmus, that, “ after having published his Praifes, he invited “ Holbein to draw his Pi&ure, in order that “ he might have the Happinefs of being repre-“ fented by fo Ikilful a Hand.”
Monf. Patin, in the Catalogue of Holbein’s Works, prefixed to his Edition of Erasmus’s Praife of Folly, in Latin, clofes his Lift
withwith Words to the following Effe&, “ He alfo *t engraved feveral Things upon Wood, among “ which are his Scripture Cuts, and Dance of “Death, vulgarly called To den Tans; from which '“ that Picture is riot very different, which was “ painted from the Life by the 'Hand, as fome “ think, of HolBein himfelf, and is enclofed “ by wooden Palliladoes from Strangers in the “Cemetery of the Predicants, irrthe Suburbs of “ St. John, at Bafil :” And Prjeor takes it for fo acknowledged a Fa£l that Holbein painted the well-known Dance of Death, that, in his Ode to the Memory of Colonel George Vi lliers, he thus alludes to it:
“ In vain we think that free-will’d Man has Fow’r To haften or protract th’ appointed Hour.
/* Our Term of Life depends not on our Deed j
“ Before our Birth, ouf Fun’ral was decreed.
« Nor aw’d by Forefight, nor milled by, Ghance, Imperious Death directs the Ebon Lance,	(
** Peoples great Henry’s Tombs, and leads up^ HotEEiTst's Dance.’’	J
By “ great Henry’s Tombs,” Henry the Seventh’s Chapel in Weftminfter-Abbey is meant.
To refute by minute Examination the feveral Errors in the above Citations, would be an almoft •endlefs Talk ; it il fufficient here to remark, that the PalTage from Borbqnius is too general to
afcertainafcertain, whether he means a? Dance ofa Death, or a (ingle Figure; that Sandrart or Rubens’s Declaration is too far diftant from the Time, to be of any great Weight j as is alfo Patin’s A£-fertion, that Holbein a&u#lly engraved the Imagines Mortis t And furely, if it had bee» either defigned or engraven by him, Frellon, for whom fo many Editions were printed, would not have failed to have mentioned it in fome of them, when we find, that in the Editions of the Scripture Cuts, which he printed, he has inferted a Latin Poem of fome Length, and alfo a Greek Epigram, both byBoRBONius, with a Tranflation of this latter into Latin, all to prove, that the Cuts Were the Work of HolbeIn. It is-further to be obferved (as one Reafon for afcribing thefe Cuts to Holbein) that a Cut of the Im agi n es Mortis, which occurs P. 36 of this Edition, but the Mark is there purpofely omitted, has to it in the original the Letters H L thus conjoined which Papillon aflerts, is one of the Marks of Holbei n ; and Christian de Mechel, Engraver to the Eledtor Palatine, feems fo well convinced of their being really atleaft defigned by Holbein, that he has inferted the Dance of Death, as reprefented in the Imagines Mortis, among the reft of his Works, which he is now publifhing ; but the Number of Cuts there given, is no more than Forty-Six.
It were much to be wifhed that Mechel had;
b	informed:[ XXK ]
informed u|, from what he; had copied the Dance af Death; whether, as he probably did* from Drawings j, and, if fo, where thofe Drawings were to be found, and on what further Evidence he had ventured to afcribe them to Holbein 5 for, as will prefently appear, there is very great Reafon, at leaft, for doubting the Fa£t, notwith-ftanding that the four firft Cuts of the I mag inks Mortis occur among theCuts to the Old Tefta-r ment, printed in 1539, an(i which we are told exprefsly in a Poem, and alfo in an Epigram, of BqRBONius, prefixed to them, are of the Hand; of Holbein ^ but whether by this we are to underftand, that he defigned or engraved them* or both, we are lefttofeek. After having thus ventured to queftion in general Terms, Holbein’s Title to. the Merit of this Work, it is incumbent on me to fhew on what my Doubts are founded, and this I am prepared to do; ijor, in the Dedication to the Edition of the Imagines Mortis, in 1538, is a Paflage, of which, I here infert a faithful Tranflation :
“To return then to our Cuts of Death, we tf now very juftly regret the Death of him “ who has here defigned fuch elegant Figures, *f exceeding as much all the Examples hitherto, ** as the Paintings of Apelles, or of Zeuxis,. " exceed the Moderns. For his forrowful Hif-“ tories, with their Defcriptions feverely verfi-* fied, excite fuch Admiration in the Beholders,
** that“ thgt they1 think the Figures, of Death appear i* as if quite alive, and the laving as if dead* <** Which makes me think that Death, fearing “ that this excellent Painter would paint him fo “ much alive, that he fhould no longer be feared “ as Death, and that, for this Reafon, he himr
felf woukl become immortal; for this very u Caufe haftened fo much his Days, that he M could not finifh feveral other Cuts already by u him traced* and among others that of the “ Waggoner overthrown and bruifed under his 4‘ overturned Waggon; the Wheels and Horfes w of which are there reprefented fo frightfully', il that as much Horror is occasioned, to view ** their Downfall, as Delight to contemplate the M Liquorifhnefs of one Figure of Death, who is “ fecretly fucking through a Reed the- Wine M from the emptied Cafk : To which- imperfect “ Hiftories, as well as to the inimitable Rainbow^ u no one has dared to put the laft Hand.’*
This Dedication is prefixed to the Edition of 1538, and fpeaks of the Defigner (by which, I conceive, we muft underftand both Painter and Engraver, for it fpeaks of the Drawings of the unfinifhed ones, as having been then already traced or drawn; and,, if fb, they might finely have been finifhed by the Engraver of the former ones) as then, lately dead; now it is well known that Holbein did not die till 1554^ and there-
*	Waiioh’j Anecdotes of Painting, Vol. I. P. 115.
forefore it could not be he: And I would further ob-ferve, that the Mark IL is not peculiar to Holbein, Strutt, in his Biographical Dtftionary ef 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 ufed, as his Mark, fometimes a Vafe of Flowers in the Midft of the Letters L H, and fometimes the perpendicular Stroke of the L in the fecond Stroke of the H, which is exa&ly as it appears in the Cut before referred to.
I have only to add, that the Cuts in the pre-fent Edition, excepting only the firft (which, reprefenting in the Original the Deity in the Habit of the Pope, to avoid giving Offence, it was thought proper to omit, and to fubflitute in its Room one defigned for the Purpofe) are engraven, and the Verfes under them tranflated, from the Latin Edition of 1547; and that the additional Cuts, which appeared in the French Edition of 1562 (with the Omiflion only of four of Boys, as being foreign tc> this Subje£t) are here alfo inferted, and the Verfes under them tranflated from the French. '
The EDITOR.
March 24, 1789,c ■« ]
The CREATION of the WORLD,
$0 God treated Man in his own Image, in the Image of Gafd created he him: Male and’ -Female created he them.
Genesis i. 27.
In the Beginning, Heav’n and Earth, And the refounding Sea,
God, by his Voice omnipotent,
From Nothing caus’d to be.
The human Race, the Image true Of his divineft Mind,
Both Male and Female he did forin From lighteft Earth we find.
BS I N.
Becaufe thou haft hearkened unto the Voice of thy Wife, and haji eaten of the Tree of which I commanded thee, faying, Thou fhalt not eat of it, &c.
Genesis iii. 17.
Againft God’s Will the direful Fruit Of the forbidden Tree The Hufband by his foolifh Wife To tafte induc’d we fee.
A grievous Death they both deferv’d For this Offence fo great,
And we, their Children, fubje6t are To thqiame Laws of Fate.DEATH.
The Lord GodCent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the Ground, from whence he was taken.
Genesis iii. 23.
Th' Almighty Father did expel Man from his bleffed Seat;
And to fuftain his Life decreed By his own proper Sweat:
Then, firft, into the empty World, Pale Death an Entrance gain’d; And the fame Pow’r o’er mortal Men, Has ever fmce maintain’d.
B 2
VflC 4 J The C U R S E.
Cur Jed is the Ground far thy Sake ; in Sorrow Jhtdi thou eat of it all the Days of thy Life, &c. •
Genesis iii. i£.
Curs’d be the Earth for thy Offence^.
And barren be the Ground,
And full of Xoil and Labour great*
Thy anxious Life be found
Till Death thy ljfelefs Limbs replace In'Earth’s cold narrow Womb,
Then Dyft, which at the firft thou wert* Thou quickly ftialt become*PFbe, Woty Woe to the Inhabiten of the Earth. Revelations viii. 13.
All in whofe No/lrils was the Breath of Life, of all that was in the dry Land, died.
Genesis vii. 22.
Woe, grieyous Woe, to all who ilow In this vile World abide;
For Times await you big with Grief, And every III befide.
Though now to you a plenteous Share Of Fortune’s Gifts may fall,
4 Pale Death will be, or foon or late,
A Vifitant to all.
B3.Until the Death of the High-Pricjl that Jhall be in thoje Days.
Joshua xx. 6.
And let another take his Office. Psalm cix. 8.
Thou who, elated with Succefs,
Immortal claim’ft to be,
From Men’s Affairs, in little Space,.
| Thyfelf remov’d (haft fee.
Though now the great High-Prieft thou art,.
And in Rome’s See doft fit,
Soon (hall thy Office, in thy Place,
A SuccefTor admit.Set thine Houfe in Order; for thou jhalt die, and not live. Isaiah xxxviii. 1.
There fialt thou diet and there the Chariots of thy Glory jhall be the Shame of thy Lord's Houfe. Isaiah xxii. 18.
Difpofe thy Kingdom’s great Concerns Intruded to thy Care,
So that to pafs to other Worlds Thou quickly may’ft prepare.
For when the Time (hall come that'thou Shalt quit this mortal Throne*
Thy utmoft Glory then (hall be A broken Car alone.The KING.
He that is To-Day a King To-Morrow /hall die. Ecclesiasticus x. 10.
To him who this Day Sceptres fways,
In coftly 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.I 9: ]
Which jufiify the. Wicked for Reward,, and take away the Righteoufnefs of the Righteous from him.
Isaiah v. 23.
Woe, grievous Woe, to you, who now The impious Man carefs;
Exalt the unjuft to Height of Wealth, The virtuous Man opprefs.
Who feek the World’s fallacious Gifts To gain without Delay,	.
And the true Path of Righteoufnefs Defire to take away.[ JO ]
The EMPRESS.
Thofe that walk in Pride he is able to ahafe. Daniel iv. 37.
Ye, alfo, who in glitt’ring Pomp Of haughty State are plac’d,
A Day fliall fee wherein yourfelves Of bitter Death lhall tafte:
For, as the Grafs by Travellers Is trodden on the Ground,
So Death fhall tread you under Foot, And all your Joys confound.C » 3
Rife up, ye Women that are at Eafe ; hear my Voice,. ye carelefs Daughters; give Ear unto my Speech. Many Days and Tears Jhall ye he troubled.
Isaiah xxxii. o & 10.
Hither, ye Ladies of Renown,
And Matrons rich, repair;
For Death toyou now clearly tells,
A mortal Tribe ye are.
When the glad Years and empty Joys Of this vain World are paft,
The Pain of Death will fure difturb Your Bodies frail at laft.The B I S H O P.
I'will fmite the Shepherd, and the Sheep sf the Flock Jhall be fcattered abroad.
Matthew xxvi. 31. Mark xiv. 27.
The Paftof, void of all Defence,
My Pow’r, fays Death, fhall own; Bv me, his Mitre and his Staff,
Shall to the Ground be thrown.
His Sheep, their Paftor thus remov’d, By Death’s fell Pow’r, away,
Shall be difperfed ev’ry one,
To prowling Wolves a Prey.The Elector, or Prince of the Empire.
cThe Prince Jhall be clothed with Defolation, and the Hands of the People of the Land Jhall be troubled.
Ezekiel vii. 27.
Come, mighty Prince, now quick refign.
Thy perifhable Joys,
Thy fleeting Glory, and the reft Of Earth’s delufive Toys.
Lo, I alone the Pride of Kings Am able to reprefs;
The fplendid Pomps of regal State My Pow’r fupreme confefs*
m
SfflKT-C ‘4 3
The ABBOT. *
He Jhall die without Injirufflion, and in the Gredtnefs of his Folly he Jhall go ajlray.
Proverbs v. 23.
This Inftant, Wretch, thou fhalt depart, Confign’d to mould’ring Duft ; Becaufe thou knev/ft not, only feign’dft, The Wifdomofthe Juft.
The Abundance of thy Folly great,
Did blindly thee deceive,
And made thee feek the finful Path, Which thou could’ft never leave.Better it is to die than live,
I conftantly have taught; •
Since human Life with anxious Care, And various Ills is fraught.
Ungrateful Death me now compels The like fad Path to tread,
With thofe whom in the filent Grave The Fates fevere have laid.
C a
t *5 a
The ABB E S S.
Wherefore I praifed the Dead which are already dead* more than the Living which are yet alive.
Ecclesiastes iv. 2.The GENTLEMAN.
What Man is he that liveth, andJhall not fee Death P Shall he deliver his Soul from the Hand of the Grave f
Psalm lxxxix. 48.
What Man is he, however brave,
Of mightieft Pow’r poffeft,
Who In this mortal World ihall live, And Death Ihall never tafte
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 fave ?Beholdy the Hour is at Hand. Matth£w xxvi. 45.
By Crowds attended ’to the* Gh©ir ?
Thou now doft bend thy Way ; < Come on, and, with fuppliant Voice, Thy humbleft Homage pay: .
For, thee the Fates do loud demand, And inftant Death does crave 5 jA Day, which no one can retard. Shall force thee to the Grave.
C 2
mt *8 3
The J U D G E.
I will cut, off the Judge from the Midjt thereof, Amos ii.
You who falfe Judgment do pronounce,.
For filthy Lucre’s Sake,
From Midft of Crowds and Judgment-Sear,, Iy~ Death, will quickly take.
To Fate’s juft Laws ye muil fiibmit,
Nor ye, alone, COnteft That pow’r which every Son of Man.
Has hitherto confeft.I >9 3
The A D V O C A T E.
A prudent Man forefeeth the Evil, and hideth him-felf: But the Sitnple pafs on, and are punijhed.
Eroverbs xxii. 3.
The crafty Man the Crime perceives. The Guilty does protedi;
The Caufe of juft but needy Men,
He ever does reject.
The Poor and Guiltlefs are opprefs’d By Juftice* vain Fretence,
And Gold, than Laws, is found to have A greater Influence*E *o ]
The Counsellor, or Magistrate.
WhofoJioppeth his Ears at the Cry of the Poor, he alfo jhall cry himfelf, but Jhall not be heard*
Proverbs xxi. 13.
The Rich and Wealthy readily To Suiters rich give Ear,
And fcorn the poor and needy Man, His Pray’r refufe to hear :
But when themfelves* in the laft Hour, To God (hall earrieft cry,
Their anxious Pray’rs he fliall reject,, And their Requeft deny.The CURATE, or PREACHER.
Woe unto them that call Evil Good, and Good Evil; that put Darhnefs for Light, and Light fir Dark-nefs i that put Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for Bitter.
Isaiah v. 2q,
Woe to you impious Hypocrites,
Who Evil Goodnefs term;
And Evil to be truly Good,
With equal Fraud affirm:
Who Dark for Light, with Falfehood great, And Light for Dark embrace ;
Bitter for Sweet who fubftitute,
And Sweet for Bitter place.
I • I
— •••••(•MiaCUi
ypmzm
& II M' ]
I myjelf aljo am a mortal Man, like to all. Wisdom vii. i.
The holy Sacrament, behold,
Celeftial Gift, I bear,
The fick Man, at the Hour of Deaths With certain Hope to cheer.
Ev’n I myfelf am mortal tod, \
And the fame Ijaws obey, .
And fliall like.hjm, when Time fhall come, To Death bfe made a Prey.C *3 ]
The FRIAR MENDICANT.
Such as Jit iti Darknefs, and in the Shadow of Death, being bound in Affliction and Iron. 11
Psalm cvii. 10.
Some Men, the World to circumvent By Fraud and Falfehood try,
By feign’d Religion, Sin to hide From ev’ry mortal Eye ^
Of Piety an ardent love They outwardly profefs;
But inwardly they are the Sink Of all Voluptuoufnefs:
But when the End fliall be at Hand, ..They like Reward fliall have,
And Death, by Myriads, fliall mow down The Wicked to the Grave.[ *4 3 The CAN ONES S.
*There is a , Way whkh Jeemeth Right upto a Man / but the End thereof are the: Ways of Death. Proverbs xiv. 12.
An Apojlrophe to Death.
Why doft thou, pale and envious Death, A facred Maid affright ?
Small Glory to thee can arife From Vi&ories fo flight.
Go hence, let fick or aged Men Thy fatal Dart employ;
But let this Virgin, innocent,
Life’s Pleafures long enjoy.
Pleafure and Joy her jocund Youth Should ardently purfue;
The Pleafures of the Marriage-Bed Tp her gay Youth are due.
arassrC *5 3
Tfts OLJ> WOMAN.
Death it better thaw a bitter Life or continual Sicknefs,
Ecclesiasticus xxx. 17.
Long has my Life moft irkfbme been, Opprefs’d with Care and Pain;
No a'nxious Wifh my Bofom 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 Reft will give.
D
MBappC *6 ]
The PH YSI GIAN.
Phyjician, heal thyfelf. Luke iv. 23,
Difeafes well thou underftand’ft,
And cures canft well apply,
Which to the Sick, in Time of Need, Will welcome Health fupply.
But while, O dull and ftupid Wretch, Thou others Fates doft flay,
Thou’rt ignorant what fell Difeafe Shall hurry thee away*The ASTROLOGER. Knowejl thou it, becaufe thou waft then bom ? or caufe the Numoenof thy Days is gnat ? Job* xxxviii. *2i.
Thou, by contemplating a Sphere Which HeavVs bright Face does fhow, Events which fhall to others chance, Pretendeft to foreknow.
Tell me, if .thou of Fates to come A fkilful 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 fhalt find May better be foretold.
D 2The M I S E R.
Thou Bod, ikh. Night thy Saul Jhall he required of thee: Then wtioftjballjbqfe things be which thou haji provided ?
Luke xijL 20.
This Night fhall Death, with Iron Hand, Thee, griping Wretch, fubdue ;
And in the narrow Grave entomb’d,
To-Morrow -fhee fhall View.
Therefore, when thou, of Life depriv’d* Shalt far from hence be gone,
What Succeflfor fhall thy vaft Heaps Of endlefs Riches own ?
aCn[ •'# :
The MERCHANT.
The getting. of Treafures by a lying Tongue, is a Vanity tojjed to and fro of them that feek Death,
Proverbs xxi. 6.
A foolifh Part he fure purfues,
Who Wealth by Fraud and Lies > T* accumulate* and num’rous Goo4l To gain unjuftly tries.
For Death entangled in the Snare,
To feize him (hall not fail;
And thefe his A&ions moll unjufl Shall caufe him to bewail.
*w[ a® 3
The SHIPWRECK.
But they.that will Jre rich, .fallSniff Temptation., and a Snare., and into many Jooltjb and 'hurtful Lufis, 'which drown Men in DeJlrudion and Perdition.
*'TTMOTHY VI. Q.
That worldly Goods they may procure, And Weal A immenfe obtain,
Their Breafl& Men hourly will expofe, Temptations to fuftain.
But Men whom Dangers thus fur round, Fortune compels**© bend Their Footfteps to thofe beaten Paths Which to jDeftru6Uon tend.The KNIGHT, or SOLDIER.
In a Moment jhall they die, and the People Jhall Be troubled at Midnight, and pafs away: And tb* Mighty jball be taken away without Hand.
Job xxxiv. 20#
Againft the Man who Wars excites,
And does mild Peace defpife,
(Peace, that to all great Bleflings brings) The People ftiall arife :
To Courage only they ihall troft.
This Tyrant fierce to tame ;
And fall he fhall, but by a Stroke No human Hand Jhall aim;
For him who, to opprefs Mankind, Shall mighty Arms employ,
Refiftlefs Death fhall fuddenly By an ill Fate deftroy.
^SOm[ 32 1 ; The c o u n .t;1
Par when he iieth, hejball carry noihinz away: His Glory Jhall not defcend after mm.
Psalm xlix. 17.
None of thofe Honours which the Great And Mighty riow attend,
When Death fhall caft them from their Seat, Shall to the Grave defcend.
No Enfigns of a glorious Race They thither (hall.convey,
Nor Titles high; for in the Grav$ ,
They nought but Duft fh^ll be.
m
WBff—The OLD MAN.
My Breath is corrupt* .my Days are .eectin&y the Graves are ready for me.
Job xvii. j.
Exhaufted Streagth my feeble Nerves No longer now doe* brace,
And, like a River’s rapid Stream*
My Life flows out apace.
The Time, which no One can recall* How fwifit a Flight has ta’en!
And nothing but the filent Tomb For me does now remain.
Tir’d of the Ills of a long Life,
And fick of all its Cares,
For fpeedy Death i now addrefs To Heav’n my anxious Pray’cs-
•SSlsSS.They fpend their Days in Wealth, and in a Moment go down to the Grant.
Job xxi. 13*
In num’rous Joys their rapid Life The thoughtlefs Virgins wafte*
And ev’ry Kind'of Pleafure feek With Eagernefs to tafte.
From Cares and Sorrow they are free, No Thought their Minds to tire,
A vacant Life.v full ^fraught with Blifs, They earneftly' defire. i 1
But in the Grave they fha!ll be laid,
By Death’s all-pifcrcing Dart, Where he their Pleafures exquifite Shall into Grief convert.r 35 ]
The NEW-MARRIED COUPLE.
The Lord do fo tp me, and more alfo, if ought but Death part thee and rue.
Ruth i. 17.
This is true Love, and this alone,
* Which Two in One conjoins, And in Affection’s ftrongeft Bands iVnd mutual Friendfhip binds.
This Union fliall, alas! endure By much too fhort a Time ; One Death fevere can two divide Whom Bands of Wedlock join.
05Theu Jbalt not come down offtbat: B*d on which thou art gme upj but Jbsdt Jurely die.
2 Kings i. 16.
From the foft Bed, O youthful Maid,
Whereon thy Limbs now lie,
Permiflion ever to arife,	.
The cruel , Fates deny :
For firft fhall Death thy lifelefs Limbs Subdue without’Remorfe,, .
And his fell Scythe fhall to the Grave Confign thy breathlefs Gorfe.
i 1C 87 3
Tie PORTER.
Hither advance, ye weary Throng,
And xjuick my Steps attend,
Who under Loads or fo great Weight,
With weary Shoulders bend*
Traffic and Gain your anxious Thoughts Did long enougn poflefs,
Your Breaits the Cares which thefe pt >ducc No longer (hall diftrefs.	*
E
Conte unto me all ye ihat labour, and are heavy laden* and I will give you Reji,
Matthew xu 28.
—
HI 3» 3
The PEASANT.
In the Sweat of thy Face jhalt thou eat Bread« Genesis iii. 19*
Bread for thyfelf, by Labour great,
Thou {halt thyfelf obtain ;
And from the Ground, without great Toil, No Suftenance (halt gain.
After long life of.Things below,
And numerous Labours paft,
Pale Death to all thy Cares and Toils Shall put an End at lait.Man that is bom of a Woman, is of few Days, ami full of Trouble. He cometh forth like a Flower, and is cut down: He fleeth alfo as a Shadow, and (ontinueth not*
, Job xiv. ir
Man, who conceiv’d in the dark Womb# Into the World is brought,
Is born: to Times with Mifery,
And various Evil fraught.
And as the Flow’r foon fades and dics„ However fair it be,
So finks he alfo to the Grave,
And like a Shade does flee*The SWISS SOLDIER.
When a jlrong Man armed keepeth his Pal&ee, his Goods are in Peace. But when a Jlronger than he jhall came upon him, and. overcome- him, he taketh from him all his Armour whereim h£ tr.ujied, and' divideth his Spoils*
Luke xi. si, 'z&.
Undaunted and fecure in Arms,
While Strength and Life remain*
The brave his Manfions, a-nd his Wealths In Safety fhall maintain.
But Death with greater Force fhall wage Againft him War-ere long,
And, for the Grave, fhall caufe him quit His Poft* no longer ftrong*.For what is a Man profited, if he Jhall gain the whole World, arid lofe his own Soul/
Matthew xviv 2o*
If the deftru£tive Art of Dice Could Wealth immenfe infure,
Or Man the World by Dice could gain, What Good would it procure ?
His-Soul this Practice will deftroy, Entangled in its Snare,
A Lofs which no Art, Fraud* or Chance* Is able to repair.
E3
_[ 4* 3 The DRUNKARDS.
And he not drunk with Wine, wherein is Excejsv Ephesians v. 18-
With Wine’s Exeefs your Souls to drench,, Ye mortal Throng, forbear^.
For Luxury of every Kind*
And raging Luft is there.
Left Death a flail you unprepar’d,
Opprefs’d with Sleep and Wine,
And, Mi a Vomit foul, your Souls Compel you to refign.C 43 1
The F O O L.
He goeth after her as an Ox goeth to the Slaughter* or as a Fool to the Correction of the Stocks.
Proverbs viL 22*
No Life fo fweetas to Be madr And no one Thing to know;
But this is far remov’d from heft* '
As Mad-men’s Actions fhew*
Secure of Fate the witlefs Fool Like fportive Lambkins treads,,
And knows not that his ev’ry Step	T
To Death's fad Portals leads-
•sssaecy*-The. T H I E F.
O Lord, I am opprejfed, undertake for me* Isaiah xxxviii. 14*
Men to deftroy with fell Intent, The Thief by Night does rife; But now to lpoil an aged Dame Of a full Balket tries*
I fuffer Wrong, fhe cries, and God Sends Death to her Relief,
Who, by the Hangman’s certain Strangles the greedy Thief*t 45 1
The BLIND MAN.
If the Blind lead the Blind, both Jhall fall into tfit Ditch.
Matthew xv. 14*
The blind Man- to a Guide as blind Himfelf does here eommit;
Bothi wanting Sight, they here defcend Into the fatal Pit.
For, while the Man does vainly hoge.
Succefs his Steps attends,
Into; the Darknefs of the Grave,
He fuddenly defcends..
xgpm. 3S&crThe CHARIOTEER, And he funk down in his Chariot~
2 KfNGS ix. 24.
The Charioteer, by Horfes fierce*
Is rapid whirl’d along ;
The Reins they fcorn, while Fear of Death Contends with Reafon ftrong-
The rapid Wheel at length torn off,
The Axle overthrows;
While, from the Calks, the precious Wine In copious Torrents flows.I 47 1 The BECG A R.
Q wretched Man that I am, who Jhall deliver me from the Body of this Death /
Romans vii. 24.
He that from lienee to be releas’d,
With Chrift to live, defires,
Defpifes Death, and to the Stars In Words like thefe afpires i
Who from this mortal Body will Me wretched Man releafe;
And fnatch me Wretch! from this vile Wprld, To Realms of pureft Peace ?■What taketh away the Life f Even Death* ECCLES14STICUS xxxi. 27*. Remember that Death will not be long in coming. Ecclesiasticus XIV. 13*
The Tyrant Death, O Hufband fond,
The worft of all its Foes,
Is to our Life and its fhort Courfe,
With conftant Steps purfues.
Reflect then in thy Prime of Life (Life’s tranfitory Day)
That to thy End it thee condu&s By gradual Decay.
' The Original 6f this Paflage has 110 Corrtfpomling Words ,in the Tranflation of-the Bible now in Ufe, aiwl the above is therefore inferted from the former Tranflation.Of the Woman canid the Beginning of Sin, through her we all die.
„Ecclesiasticus xxv. ,4.
From Eve, the Mother of Mankind,
Our Parent Adam’s Wife,
Sprang Sin, and thence fell Death arofe, The Enemy of Life.
Lef not,, howe’er, thy tender Mind To Grief a Vi&im fall,
If Death fliould thee to quit this World* Like other Mortals, call.
F[.50 ]
The LAST JUDGMENT.
We Jhatt allJland before theyudgment-Seat ofChriJi.
Romans xiv. 10.
Watch therefore, for ye know not what Hour your Lord doth come..
Matthew xxiv. 42.
For all his Adtions to account, i By God’s exprefs Command,
Each Man before the Judgment-Seat Of the juft Judge fhall ftand.
Let us be therefore yigilant,
Left, when that Time fhall come, God, for our A&ions, (hould pronounce A juft but angry Doom.
And fince when that Hour fliall arrive, No Mortal can declare;
For its Approach the pious Man Will watch and well prepare.fPhatfoever thou takejl ip Hand, remember the End, and thou Jhalt never do amifs.
Ecclesiastic us vii. 36.
r
Spotlefs to live if thou defir’ft,
And free from every Vice,
Let this Memorial conftantly Be placed before thine Eyes.
For it will often thee remind,
That Death will foon arrive,
And frequent Thought to all thy A&s Will a due Caution give.
Vouchfafe, O Chrift, with Heart fincere, That we thy Paths may tread,
And that to all the hcav’nly Path May thus be open made.As by one Man Sin entered into the World, and Death by Sins and Jo Death pajfed upon . all Men, for that all have finned^
Romans v. 12.
FINIS%
9 I • • •0&#8?££-
WSMiSUMW.^^
■•'■■■:. v. ■ WgUBB&T*•> v-;;^VT£3.■*-■./T^^/v;’ IF*'#?::ITLl&:.k&.$$
■-: • - . >■’ ■ ••"	••Y.-.V:.' ':	•••••; ••" •■ ■ ;- '"V. -. *k : •■'' • '•■■■ .1
lillllH
/ ' r	-r- ;		r».V’ . lf"1
■ffi.		.■ /y^ Vr	
	; •/ '•		
•t'			
*	/<	„< ^7 V :»y	
	•; V;		
		vv •; -•	''. V / - ■• -
/ f'f /.	v^G	MfTOrxSt	
m	iiSf?		
v	*, •' - ■ -• . "■■;/ ;■• , .'	7 : /' 5>	p ? ' .	v .*-
v* -/ y-;
■ 11	®S
Ilf	\ ft ;n}
/>; < . -• 'V-.--/•: -■ ,-./-	-^>v-- //. . ■-'• ' ;■ • ' .:• ’ '	•"•■> ' «/.:'<* - '- ■•	•'
ViE >• •'' : '	'r-7y.- s	. .•" •/ . . ,./! '■ /v .
,r • ^ /•	; -i?'-:7'. '• :■ --•	-f‘K RrJ^r,^. r,* >/ E	4
...J.. - ^ /-; '>•- ■■/;,	./■-... _ • , •■ >„;■ ;' ■ ■•• -hi' • •■	K f&fk: ‘ ’■	": ■	-fff
' ;V'V/.y'• .-• v.r .'•- ■	"! ' '•'•/’ .V*'.- ■'	'. " v. -V ' - v • ' ' ' • " ' • - ’ '•:•• • > • =•'• :-;'v-' ■ .' - '•-.
••^	^ ,v::|
•: • ': V/'"; :-v ^	' ■;•
-	- V : ■ . ; ; • ■■. /■ .-.y --'./-v: ; ;v:.-. r ' V •• ;;4 "
• ..;/' ' '• . ; --• • • "'■//• -'-. •' - ‘ :-•■ •' -	- .- v' - .-•- • • ,./ • - • A	•'■■?’. i-	• V----V; \
; • '. - '.■■• : vv-.r-v -fz. .:■ -/.■■■.■::•'-■	v. . . ..'•. - ■• , ■•
•• ■ •••'	•- . - ' i ; • ••. ;,:^;..r 'I ^
■ -T'7-"- - r r'i-. ■ v. • . •/ • -A. y>.#Y j5-.^V <-.,A . > • ..	’y < ■ - ' . , ,.i/< ,' • : ,- ■	' ••' -■ - ' ■
'. Av -f:: r'c:	• •'-',
. ■'W’f'- ;• ri' •- ’; - ■- . '■ ."-, 'J.i.r v . ..- .•/*'* / .,.-' • ,.	,. — . . /- _/' • , r. • --	K uTjL>.>
// ’ ■;: 'V-: *#• ' ’* .-; ;.. . ■ w' ,/: 7fv. ■''	''0(Q0:.	A*- <*.■ .’ -’ '* .' J'
		
/*%: V . ' '' ' . .	:■ -iw frf'CYl	:''' ^ : *# r ••': “/ r ^f%^
•£/_ • /' .	V ’C	/Vw- ■?'*. .» * V'*Y -- £ ';':f> v-;rv'^ .
rkb ' vj		
	■*■■ Z'V-i *&fJ \..M£	‘fr?' d- 'j- r -----'. •■. ;*' , V'f,: • - •'• '?■••. ?f_ Ft- t-*'-■- .. f**r .->t*.-*---/T , /&.- r. - / /?
	.v’v '■'■•	v • *r-i. Xj >- 'j / ijTy >..
t; ° >r; ,		i-Sr^S'K. ••K'V
. J- r- . ■-• .-■	-f-
•.-yi -•:••.5a; f:vf< 'ixv
r4' 1 TlK I '■'• I vnti
BT.-■ • -'•• ■•:: ,.. - ••■' •■-■ ■ - ■ ■■■.:.• •- ■•• .--. . . . ■•■ /•.•. • ■•- gttagr^v^ -'i;'