There is one thing in these pagan votive altars that may be a shame and reproach to a great many who call themselves Christians; and that is, the willingness and cheerfulness with which they paid, or pretended to pay, the vows they had made. Such as have any acquaintance with those things, know how commonly these letters V. S. L. M. or V. S. L. L. M., are added at the end of inscriptions that are on such altars, whereby they signified how _willingly_ and _cheerfully_, as well as _deservedly_, they performed the vows they had made, viz., _votum solvit libens merito_, or _votum solvit libens, lubens_ (or _lætus_) _merito_. Much more _deservedly_, and therefore more _willingly_ and _cheerfully_, should the vows made to the Most High, to the true and living God, be paid or performed to him, and particularly the vows made in trouble.[144] SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS. [Sidenote: MONUMENTAL SLABS.] Extreme importance was attached by both Greeks and Romans to the due discharge of the rites of sepulture. Until earth had been three times sprinkled over the body of the departed, his spirit was conceived to be denied admission into the Elysian fields. The practice of burning the dead became common at Rome about the latter period of the republic. The inconvenience and expense of the process would necessarily restrict it to persons of some wealth. After the pile was consumed, the ashes of the deceased were gathered up by the nearest relative, and deposited in an urn. There are numerous instances in Britain of the Romans having buried their dead entire. Skeletons have been found in London, which Mr. Charles Roach Smith considers must have been deposited in the higher empire. As Christianity gained ground, the custom of burning the dead fell into disuse; the early Christians were unwilling to do needless violence to the dust of a fellow disciple, and resolved to discontinue the superstitious ceremonies which usually attended cremation. Whether the body was previously reduced to ashes, or deposited in the ground unburnt, it was usual to raise a mound over the spot. Ergo instauramus Polydoro funus: et ingens Aggeritur tumulo tellus. _Æn._ III. 62. [Sidenote: FUNERAL URN.]