Religio Medici, Hydriotaphia, et al, | Page 4

From there he proceeded to Padua, one of the most famous
of the Italian universities, and noted for the views some of its members
held on the subjects of astronomy and necromancy. During his
residence here, Browne doubtless acquired some of his peculiar ideas
on the science of the heavens and the black art, and, what was more im-
portant, he learnt to regard the Romanists with that abundant charity we
find throughout his works. From Padua, Browne went to Leyden, and
this sud- den change from a most bigoted Roman Catholic to a most
bigoted Protestant country was not without its effect on his mind, as
can be traced in his book. Here he took the degree of Doctor of
Medicine, and shortly afterwards returned to England. Soon after his
return, about the year 1635, he published his "Religio Medici," his first
and greatest work, which may be fairly regarded as the reflection of the
mind of one who, in spite of a strong intellect and vast erudition, was
still prone to superstition, but having
"Through many cities strayed, Their customs, laws, and manners
weighed,"
had obtained too large views of mankind to become a bigot.
After the publication of his book he settled at Norwich, where he soon
had an extensive practice as a physician. From hence there remains
little to be told of his life. In 1637 he was incorporated Doctor of
Medicine at Oxford; and in 1641 he married Dorothy the daughter of
Edward Mileham, of Burlingham in Norfolk, and had by her a family
of eleven children.
In 1646 he published his "Pseudodoxia Epi- demica," or Enquiries into
Vulgar Errors. The dis- covery of some Roman urns at Burnham in
Nor- folk, led him in 1658 to write his "Hydriotaphia" (Urn-burial); he
also published at the same time "The Garden of Cyrus, or the
Quincunxcial Lozenge of the Ancients," a curious work, but far inferior
to his other productions.
In 1665 he was elected an honorary Fellow of the College of Physicians,
"virtute et literis orna- tissimus."

Browne had always been a Royalist. In 1643 he had refused to
subscribe to the fund that was then being raised for regaining
Newcastle. He proved a happy exception to the almost proverbial
neglect the Royalists received from Charles II. in 1671, for when
Charles was at Newmarket, he came over to see Nor- wich, and
conferred the honour of knighthood on Browne. His reputation was
now very great. Evelyn paid a visit to Norwich for the express purpose
of seeing him; and at length, on his 76th birthday (19th October 1682),
he died, full of years and honours.
It was a striking coincidence that he who in his Letter to a Friend had
said that "in persons who out- live many years, and when there are no
less than 365 days to determine their lives in every year, that the first
day should mark the last, that the tail of the snake should return into its
mouth precisely at that time, and that they should wind up upon the day
of their nativity, is indeed a remarkable coin- cidence, which, though
astrology hath taken witty pains to solve, yet hath it been very wary in
making predictions of it," should himself die on the day of his birth.
Browne was buried in the church of St Peter, Mancroft, Norwich,
where his wife erected to his memory a mural monument, on which
was placed an English and Latin inscription, setting forth that he was
the author of "Religio Medici," "Pseudodoxia Epidemica," and other
learned works "per orbem notissimus." Yet his sleep was not to be
undisturbed; his skull was fated to adorn a museum! In 1840, while
some workmen were digging a vault in the chancel of St Peter's, they
found a coffin with an inscription--
"Amplissimus Vir Dus Thomas Browne Miles Medicinae Dr Annis
Natus 77 Denatus 19 Die Mensis Octobris Anno Dnj 1682 hoc. Loculo
indormiens Corporis Spagy- rici pulvere plumbum in aurum convertit."
The translation of this inscription raised a storm over his ashes, which
Browne would have enjoyed partaking in, the word spagyricus
being an enigma to scholars. Mr Firth of Norwich (whose translation
seems the best) thus renders the inscription:--
"The very distinguished man, Sir Thomas Browne, Knight, Doctor of
Medicine, aged 77 years, who died on the 19th of October, in the year
of our Lord 1682, sleeping in this coffin of lead, by the dust of his
alchemic body, transmutes it into a coffer of gold.
After Sir Thomas's death, two collections of his works were published,

one by Archbishop Tenison, and the other in 1772. They contain most
of his letters, his tracts on various subjects, and his Letter to a Friend.
Various editions of parts of Browne's works have from time