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A NEW
SELECT COLLECTION
OF
EPITAPHS
AND
REMARKABLE
monumental Inscriptions,
By ROBERT ORCHARD,
LATE OF SAWBRIDGEWORTH, HERTS.
' I talk of graves, of worms, of epitaphs,
And that small portion of the barren earth
Thai serves as paste and covering to our bones."
Throsby.
\ ^
b°
SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
JAMES TAYLOR AND SON,
GREAT SURREY-STREET, BLACKFRIARS,
AND NORTH-STREET, BRIGHTON.
1827.
.on n
THE CHURCH-YARD.
We trace the limits of man's last retreat,
Where good and bad, where poor lie mix'd with
great :
Each with his share of sins ; but each alone
For mercy trusting to the Almighty Throne.
In this small space is mad Ambition laid,
Who for itself alone thought earth was made.
Pride from her pinnacle thus low is tost ;
Here every hope of Vanity is lost.
To this coarse bed is Luxury confined,
And Avarice leaves her darling heaps behind.
Yet think not we encompass Vice alone,
Virtues transcendent to their rest are gone ;
Persons that melted at each tale of woe,
And hearts forgiving of their greatest foe ;
Hands open to each charitable deed,
And doubly bounteous where the claim was need.
Then, heedless wanderer, stay thy steps, and learn
To place in Virtue's path thy great concern.
Though all unarm'd come here alike to lie,
The man who best has liv'd knows best to die !
ORCHARD'S
SELECT COLLECTION
or
EPITAPHS.
William Collins died 12th of June, 1759, aged 39.
Ye who the merits of the dead revere,
Who hold misfortune sacred, genius dear,
Regard this tomb, where Collins, hapless name !
Solicits kindness with a double claim.
Though nature gave him, and though science taught,
The fire of fancy, and the reach of thought ;
Severely doom'd to penury's extreme,
He pass'd in maddening pains life's feverish dream ;
While rays of genius only served to show
The thickening horror, and exalt his woe.
Ye walls that echoed to his frantic moan,
Guard the due record of this grateful stone.
Strangers to him, enamour'd of his lays,
This fond memorial to his talents raise ;
2 ORCHARDS EriTAPHS.
For this the ashes of a bard require,
Who touch'd the tenderest notes of pity's lyre,
Who join d pure faith to strong poetic powers,
Who in reviving reason's lucid hours
Sought on one book his troubled mind to rest,
And rightly deem'd the book of God the best.
Chichester.
To the pious and well-deserved memory of Owen
Penals Phippen, who travelled over many parts of
the world, and, on the 24th of March, 1620, was
taken by the Turks, and made captive in Algiers.
He projected sundry plots for his liberty ; and, on
the 17th of June, 1627, with ten other Christian cap-
tives, Dutch and French, persuaded by his counsel
and courage, he began a cruel fight with sixty-five
Turks in their own ship, which lasted three hours, in
which five of his companions were slain, yet God
made him conquer ; and so he brought the ship into
Carthagena, being of 400 tons, and twenty-two ord-
nance. The king sent for him to Madrid to see
him : he was offered a captain's place and the king's
favour if he would turn papist, which he refused.
He sold all for 6000/., returned into England, and
died at Lanerom the 17th March, 1636.
Melcombe, in Dorset, was his place of birth, aged
54 ; and here lies earth on earth, George Fitz
Penals Phippen.
St. Mary's, Truro.
ORCHARD S EPITAPHS. 3
Here lyeth the body of Theodore Paleologus, of
Pesaro, in Italye, descended from the imperyal line
of the last Christian Emperor of Greece, being the
sonne of Camillo, the sonne of Prosper, the sonne of
Theodore, the sonne of John, the sonne of Thomas
the second brother of Constantine Paleologus that
rayned in Constantinople until subdued by the
Turks, who married with Mary, the daughter of
William Ball, of Hadlye, in Suffolk, gent., and had
issue five children, Theodore, John, Ferdinando, Ma-
ria, and Dorothy ; and departed this life at Clyfton>
the 21st of January, 1636.
Llandulph, Cornwall. *
* About three miles below Cotehall is Pentilly Castle. In
the grounds of this seat is a lofty bank, adorned with a tower, '
to which is attached a remarkable history, which Mr. Gilpin,
in his Observations on the Western Parts of England, thus
narrates : — Mr. Tilly, once the owner of Pentilly House, was
a celebrated atheist of the last £ge. He was a man of wit,
and had by rote all the ribaldry and common-place jest
against religion and scripture, which are well suited to dis-
play pertness and folly, and to unsettle a giddy mind, but
are offensive to men of sense, whatever their opinions may
be, and are neither intended nor adopted to investigate truth.
The brilliancy of Mr. Tilly's wit, however, carried him a
degree further than we often meet with in the annals of pro-
faneness. In general, the witty atheist is satisfied with en-
tertaining his contemporaries, but Mr. Tilly wished to have
his sprightliness known to posterity ; with this view, in ri-
dicule of the resurrection, he obliged his executors to place
his body, in his usual garb, and in his elbow-chair, upon the
top of a hill, and to arrange on a table before him, bottles,
glasses, pipes, and tobacco ; in this situation, he ordered him-
self to be immured in a tower of such dimensions as he pre-
* ORCHARDS EPITAPHS.
Mrs. LufFe, of Chichester, who died suddenly
lately, had contrived, unknown to her husband, to
secrete nearly 1000/. in gold and silver ; the know-
ledge of which she had only imparted to a young
man, who, in case of her death before her husband,
was to insist on his settling it on their only son,
before he was to be made acquainted with the spot
where the hidden treasure was concealed ; and on his
agreeing to do so, the place was pointed out, and
proved to be behind the wainscot of their bed-room.
Morning Herald, Nov. 14th, 1826.
Beneath the altar, which is unusually elevated
on that account, is the vault of the Cliffords, the
place of their interment from the dissolution of Bol-
ton Priory to the death of the last Earl of Cumber-
land. Dr. Whitaker examined this vault, March
29, 1803, after it had been closed many years ; and
found that the original vault, intended only for the
first Earl and his second Lady, had undergone two
enlargements, the bodies having been deposited in
chronological order. First, and immediately under
his tomb, lay Henry, the first Earl, whose lead coffin
was much corroded, and exhibited the skeleton of
a short and very stout man, with a long head of
flaxen hair, gathered in a knot behind the skull.
The coffin had been closely fitted to the body, and
scribed, where he proposed, he said, patiently to wait the
event. All this was done. And the tower, still enclosing its
tenant, remains as a monument of his impiety and prophane-
ness. The country people shudder as they go near it.
ORCHARD S EPITAPHS. O
proved him to have been very corpulent, as well as
muscular. Next lay the remains of Margaret
Percy, his second Countess, whose coffin was still
entire ; she must have been a slender and diminutive
woman. The third was the Lady Eleanor's grave,
whose coffin was much decayed, and exhibited the
skeleton (as might be expected in a daughter of
Charles Brandon, and the sister of Henry VIII.) of
a tall and large-limbed female : at her right hand
was Henry, the second Earl, a very tall and rather
slender man, whose thin envelope of lead really re-
sembled a winding-sheet, and folded like coarse
drapery over the limbs. The lead was beaten to
the left side ; something of the shape of the face
might be distinguished, and a long prominent nose
was very conspicuous. Next lay Francis Lord Clif-
ford, a boy : at his right hand was his father,
George, the third Earl, whose lead coffin precisely
resembled the outer case of an Egyptian mummy,
with a rude face, and something like female mam-
mae cast upon it, as were also the figures, and let-
ters of G. C. 1605. The body was close wrapped
in ten folds of coarse cerecloth, which being re-
moved, exhibited the face so entire, (only turned to
copper-colour) as plainly to resemble his portraits.
The coffin of Earl Francis, who lay next his bro-
ther, was of the modern shape, and alone had an
outer shell of wood, which was covered with leather :
the soldering had decayed, and nothing appeared
but the ordinary skeleton of a tall man. Over him
lay another coffin, which Dr. Whitaker suspects
b 3
ORCHARDS EPITAPHS.
had contained the Lady Anne Dacre, his mother.
Last lay Henry, the fifth Earl, in a coffin of the
same, with that of his father.
Skipton.
Here lieth the body of Ann Sellars, buried by this
stone,
Who dyed on January 15th~day, 1731.
Likewise here lies dear Isaac Sellars, my Husband
and my Right,
Who was buried on that same day come seven years,
1738.
In seven years time there comes a change : observe,
and here you'll see
On that same day come seven years, my husband's
laid by me.
Eyam. „
To the memory of George Simpson, master-mariner,
of Burlington, Yorkshire, died Aug. 24, 1809, aged
26 years; shot by the enemy near Beachey Head.
I think nothing strange that happens unto all ;
My lot to-day, to-morrow your's may fall.
I was changed, and in a moment fell,
I had not time to bid my friends farewell.
All Saints, Hastings.
Matthew Howard, 1657.
To mourn for thee were sin ;
Rejoice we, rather, that thou hast got
An everlasting father.
Norwich.
ORCHARD S EPITAPHS. /
E. G. Hancock, died August 3, 1666.
John Hancock, Sen. 4, —
John Hancock, Jun. 7, —
Oner Hancock, 7, —
William Hancock, — 7, —
Alice Hancock, ■ 9, —
Ann Hancock, 10, —
What havoc death made in one family in the
course of seven days.
Eyam, Oxfordshire.*
Robert Rant, 1598.
I 'scap'd a death at Gales, a town of Spain,
And died at home, and here I buried lay,
From whence I hope to rise again,
Though now I am, as thou shalt be, but clay.
Norwich.
* Thus, the number who die on earth amounts to, each
year, 30,000,000. Each day, 86,400. Each hour, 3,600.
Each minute, 60. Each second, 1. This calculation must
necessarily strike us. If the mortality is so great every year,
and even every hour, is it not probable that he who reflects
on it may soon be one of those which swell the list of the
dead ! It is at least certain, that it ought to lead us often
to serious reflections. Now, at this moment, one of our
fellow-creatures is going out of the world; and before this
hour be passed, more than three thousand souls will have
entered into eternity. What a motive for thinking often and
seriously on death. — Sturm's Reflections,
8 orchard's epitaphs.
To the memory of Jane Longly, died 14th October,
1817, aged 14 years.
Stay, Christian, stay ; let not thy haste profane
This humble stone, that tells thee life is vain.
Here beauty lies, in mouldering ruins lost ;
A blossom nipp'd by death's untimely frost,
Unwarn'd, yet unsurprized : found on her guard,
Like a wise virgin, waiting for her Lord.
Hastings.
To the memory of Elizabeth Ridley, died 11th
December, 1818, aged 16 years.
In life's sweet opening dawn she sought her God,
And the gay path of life with caution trod.
Her front with blushing modesty she bound,
And on her lips the love of truth was found ;
Fond to oblige, too gentle to offend,
Beloved by all, to all the good a friend.
In others joys and griefs a part she bore,
And with the needy shared her little store :
At distance saw the world with pious dread,
And to God's temple for protection fled,
Here sought that peace, which Heaven alone can give,
And learned to die, ere others learn to live.
Hastings.
To the memory of Mary Maria Selway, died the
3d of May, 1817, aged 16 years.
Here, lock'd in peaceful slumbers, rests beneath
An early victim to the rage of death ;
ORCHARD S EPITAPHS.
A father's hope, a mother's tenderest care,
Blighted by one rude blast, lies buried here.
An only child, snatch'd from their fond embrace,
Just in the blossom of each ripening grace,
When fast maturing into youthful bloom,
Beneath this tablet found an early tomb.
Calm and resign'd she saw the approaching shock,
But view'd it with a firm and fearless look ;
Or, if across her cheek a tear would steal,
'Twas for her parents, not herself, it fell ;
Whom with a sympathizing sorrow moved,
She solaced dying, as she living loved.
HastiDgs.
To the memory of Ann, wife of William Handen,
died the 17th of June, 1816, aged 53 years.
Time rolls his ceaseless course ; the race of yore
Who danced our infancy upon their knees,
And told our marvelling childhood legends store
Of their strange ventures, happ'd by sea or land,
How are they blotted from the things that be ;
How few, all weak and wither'd of the force,
Wait on the verge of dark eternity,
Like stranded wrecks, — the tide returning hoarse,
To snatch them from our sight — Time rolls his
ceaseless course.
Hastings.
10 orchard's epitaphs.
Selling one's body.
The following curious letter was found among the
papers of Mr. Goldwyr, a surgeon of Salisbury.
" To Mr. Edward Goldwyr, at his house in the
Close of Salisbury.
« Sir,
" Being informed that you are the only surgeon
in this city (or county) that anatomizes men, and I
being under the unhappy circumstance, and in a very
mean condition, would gladly live as long as I can,
but, by all appearance, I am to be executed next
March ; having no friends on earth that will speak a
word to save my life, nor send me a morsel of bread
to keep life and soul together until that fatal day, so,
if you will vouchsafe to come hither, I will gladly
sell you my body (being whole and sound) to be or-
dered at your discretion, knowing that it will rise
again at the general resurrection, as well from your
house as from the grave. Your answer, Sir, will
highly oblige,
Your's, &c.
James Brooke.
" Fisherton Anger Gaol, Oct. 3d, 1736."
Collett's Relics of Literature.
John Penny.
Here honest John, who oft the turf had paced,
And stopp'd his mother's earth, in earth is placed,
Nor all the skill of John himself could save,
From being stopp'd within an earthly grave.
orchard's epitaphs. 11
A friend to sport, himself of sporting fame,
John died, as he had lived, with heart of game,
Nor did he yield until his mortal breath
Was hard run down by that grim sportsman — Death.
Reader, if cash thou art in want of any,
Dig four feet deep, and thou wilt find — a penny.
Winborne.
In Castry Church, Kent, on a young lady who died in
childhood.
How dear the purchase ! how severe the cost!
The fruit was saved,, the parent tree was lost ;
This monumental shrine, these plaintive lays,
This last sad gift a weeping husband pays.
Not that thy praises, virtuous fair, require
The breathing marble, or the vocal lyre ;
But as a small, a first return for love,
Tender, unfeign'd, and ratify 'd above.
In the Church-yard of Westminston, Sussex.
Farewell, poor world, I must be gone,
This is no place for me ;
I'll take my staff, and travel on,
Hoping a better world to see.
The bitter cup, that death gave me,
Is passing round to come to thee.
12 orchard's epitaphs.
Sacred
to the Memory of
Mr. Timothy Marr,
aged 24 years.
Also, Mrs. Celia Marr,
aged 24 years.
And their son, Timothy Marr,
aged 3 months.
f All of whom were most inhumanly murdered
in their dwelling-house,
No. 29, Ratcliff Highway, Dec. 8, 1811.*
Stop^ mortal, stop, as you pass by,
And view this grave wherein do lie
A father, mother, and a son,
Whose earthly course was shortly run.
For, lo ! all in one fatal hour,
O'ercome were they with ruthless pow'r,
* Thursday, the 19th December, as the watchman was go-
ing his rounds in New Gravel Lane, Shadwell, in the county
of Middlesex, he observed a young man, who was a lodger at
the public-house called the King's Arms, and kept by Mr.
John Williamson, lowering himself down by two sheets from
a two-pair of stairs window, who told him that the family
were murdered, whereupon the door was immediately broke
open, and the bodies of Mrs. Catherine Williamson and her
maid servant, Bridget Harrington, were found murdered in
the tap-room, and the said Mr. John Williamson was found
in the cellar in the same state.
John Williams, the supposed murderer of the Marr's and
Williamson's families, was buried close to the turnpike-gate
in the Cannon-street-road, and the maul was driven through
the body, on December 31, 1811.
orchard's epitaphs. 13
And murder'd in a cruel state,
Yea, far too horrid to relate.
They spared not one to tell the tale,
One for the other could not wail ;
The other's fate they never sigh'd,
Loving they lived, together died,
Reflect, O Reader, on thy fate,
And turn from sin before too late ;
Life is uncertain in this world,
Oft in a moment we are hurl'd
To endless bliss, or endless pain,
So let not sin within you reign.
St. George's in the East.
John Herd, late of the Custom-house, gent, and
many years an inhabitant of this parish, who was
barbarously murdered by footpads,, on Friday, the
17th of May, 1782, aged 31.*
* This gentleman, who had lodgings at Canonbury-
House, whither he generally repaired pretty early of an even^
ing, had been detained in town on the above fatal day till
about 11 o'clock, in settling some matters relative to the
marriage of his niece, which was to have taken place the
next day with a Captain Best, of the 92nd regiment, who,
with two servants, was accompanying him to Islington. In
the footpath between the Shepherd and Shepherdess and the
Prebend Field, not many yards from the porters' resting-
block, they were attacked by four footpads. Mr. Herd, who was
a very stout man, six feet high, and who had been often heard
to declare that he would never submit to be robbed, offered
some resistance, when one of the villains discharged a blun-
derbuss, and blew off the fore-part of his head ; one of the
c
I* ORCHARDS EPITAPHS.
The following tribute to the memory of Mr. Herd
(intended to have been inscribed on his monument)
was written by his friend Mr. William Woodfall, the
celebrated reporter of the Parliamentary Debates,
who at that time also resided in Islington : —
Stop ! youthful passenger :
And read with steady attention the following lines.
Here rest from the cares, the toils,
and follies of human nature,
the remains of
John Herd.
He once (perhaps like thee) was engaged in a
multiplicity of pursuits after fame, honours, wealth,
and pleasures, but was suddenly arrested in the
midst of his career, in the bloom of life, and plung-
ed into eternity by four villains, in the fields leading
from the Shepherd and Shepherdess to Islington, as
he was endeavouring to prevent being robbed, on
Tuesday, the 17th of May, 1782. He was a cheer-
ful companion and a sincere friend : his frailties (few)
rest upon the bosom of his God : his virtues make
his memory revered amongst his numerous acquaint-
ance. His life was amiable, his death lamented.
This inscription was by a friend engraven upon
servants, who was armed with a pistol, which he attempted
to fire at the thieves, received a wound on the arm with a
cutlass. Captain Best and the other escaped unhurt. Gray,
a notorious ruffian, who perpetrated the above horrid murder,
was not long after taken and executed, as was also Stunell,
and several others of this desperate gang.
orchard's epitaphs. 15
his tomb, as a lasting testimony of friendship, and
for a memento to his youthful companions, and
others whom chance may lead to visit this shrine,
not to go unprepared for their final dissolution,
which may be as sudden and dreadful as his : —
Drop, youthful passenger, the friendly tear
Of sympathy, of soft compassion here ;
And since not youth, in all its blooming pride,
Death's fatal stroke can alter or avoid,
Learn so to spend thy short, uncertain day,
That thou canst brave his power, and take his
sting away.
Nelson's " Islington."
Resentment after Death.
In October 1758, the brutality of the mob was
excited by the interment of Mr. Wilson, an under-
taker and pawnbroker, who had kept the Punch-
bowl, near Moor-gate. The cause of their resent-
ment proves that a British mob generally acts upon a
noble principle, as the deceased was reported to have
left a legacy of 200/. to be paid in groats to those
persons who were then imprisoned at his suit, though
he died rich. This malice from the grave justly ex-
asperated all who knew of it, and their anger was
properly inflamed by observing that a detachment of
the Artillery Company, to which Wilson had belong-
ed, intended to pay him military honours on the
way to Islington, where he was to be buried. Every
mark of abhorrence and contempt, consequently,
16 orchard's epitaphs.
ensued from an astonishing number of persons, who
severely hurt each other by collision, and it was
with the utmost difficulty that the priest performed
his office.
Here lieth William Carlos, of Stafford, who departed
this life in the 25th year of his age, the 19th
of May, 1668.
? Tis not bare names that noble fathers give
To worthy sonnes, though dead in them they live ;
For in his progeny, 'tis Heaven's decree,
Man only can on earth immortal bee ;
But Heaven gives soules w h grace doth sometymes
bend
Early to God, their rice and soveraigne end :
Thus, whilst that earth concern'd did hope to see
Thy noble father living still in thee,
Careless of earth, to Heaven thou didst aspire,
And we on earth Carlos in thee desire.
Fulham.
Martha Ogle, Baroness de Stark, died on the 20th
of January, 1805, aged 85 years and 8
months.
If virtue boast a triumph in our love,
And filial tears are seen by saints above,
She, at whose sepulchre this verse is laid;,
O spotless innocence ! O holy shade !
Shall know that she was loved; well pleased shall see,
Her children's grief record her memory,
orchard's epitaphs. 17
And grateful for life past, His power adore,
Who call'd her hence, the spoil of Death no more.
Fulham.
In memory of William Earsby, of Northend, Gent.
who departed this life the 18th October, 1664,
and in the 73rd year of his age.
Neare to this place his aged corpse doeth lye,
Who, whilst he lyv'd, was not afraid to die.
His parting soule, in hopes of heavenly rest,
Imbraced death as his most welcome guest.
He did that worke whilst time and strength did last,
Which many shun till both be overpast.
Unto good works his mind was ever prest,
Yet on God's grace, through Christ, his faith did rest ;
He run the race, and hath obtaiu'd the prize,
That which remaynes for us to do likewise.
Fulham,
Richard Price, Esq. died January 22, 1787, aged 17.
O Innocence, what language can express
Thy worth! thou I^avenly comfort in distress !
What tongue, what tongue of seraph can define,
To human thought thy excellence divine ?
Pure source of happiness without alloy,
Thou life of life, and soul of every joy.
When o'er creation shines thy cheering light,
We feel existence with sincere delight ;
From bitter draughts the cup of life 's refined,
And bliss eternal dawns upon the mind.
Fulham.
c 3
18 orchard's epitaphs.
William Pearson Lowe Maxwell, diedJune 23, 1806.
Piercing the grief when parents lose a son ;
More piercing still to lose an only one.
But when that one in heavenly form combin'd
Such angel features with so sweet a mind,
What words can paint, what eloquence declare,
The heart-felt pangs those parents long must bear ?
Fulham.
Under this stone are deposited the remains of
Nathaniel Rench,
late of this Parish, Gardener,
who departed this life, Jan. 18, 1783,
Aged 101 years.
Fulham.
Sacred to the Memory
Of Robert Jones, Esquire,
Of St. Mary Hill,
In the City of London, Merchant,
Who died the XlXth. day of June,
MDCCCVIII.
AgedLXVlII years.*
Fulham.
* This gentleman was an eminent wine and brandy mer-
chant, died possessed of more than a half-million sterling.
orchard's epitaphs. 19
John Pennant, Gent, died the 5 th of June, 1709,
aged 69.
Had virtue in perfection power to save
The best of men from the devouring grave,
Pennant had lived, but 'tis in vain to crie
The fatal stroke, when all are doom'd to die ;
Farewell, loved spouse, since want of words appears,
T' express m)r grief, I'll moan thy loss in tears,
Which, like Nile's cataracts, shall tumble down,
And in their briny streams my passions drown.
Here may thy ashes undisturb'd remain,
Till thy wife's dust revisits thee again :
Then sacred quiet to the day of doom,
Seal theinclosure of our catacomb.
Chelsea.
Montague Rush, died February 13th, 1808, aged
14 days.
Farewell, sweet innocent, a flower too fair
To bless thy anxious parent's tender care ;
Too bright thy bloom for us on earth to view,
We gazed, admired, we wept, and bade adieu !
Return'd thee back to Heaven's illumined sphere,
To bloom for ever as an angel there.
Chelsea.
The tomb of Richard Jervoice, Reader, view;
His mortal part, at length, reposes here.
The laws of Death the lawyer cannot break, —
O'er old and young he claims a legal power ;
20 orchard's epitaphs.
Sooner or later cruel Death appears,
And rich and poor without distinction takes ;
Raging, he cuts too soon the thread of life.
In years though young, in understanding old,
The love of piety from earth him bears,
And life's inconstant state sends him to Heaven.
Chelsea.
Sir John Lawrence, Baronet, died the 13th of No-
vember, 1658, aged 50 years.
When bad men dye, and turn to their last sleep,
What stir the poets and engravers keep,
Try a feign'd skill to pile them up a name
With terms of good and just outlasting fame.
Alas, poor man ! such most have need of stone
And epitaphs ; — the good indeed lack none :
Their own true works enough do give of glory
Unto their names, which will survive all story.
Such was the man lies here, who doth partake
Of verse and stone, but 'tis for fashion' sake.
Chelsea.
Sarah Colvile, who died in the 40th year of her age,
the 17th of April, 1631.
Wonder not, Reader, how this stone
Should be so smooth and pure ; there's one,
That lies within, by whose fair light
It shines so clear and looks so bright.
The carver's art could only give
A form, but not the power to live.
orchard's epitaphs. %\
Nor shall it ever lose its grace
Till she arrive, and leave the place,
For loss of whom the mournful urn
Shall fire, and to cinder turn.
Chelsea.
Chelsea.
Here lyeth y e Body of
Simon Box,
who in y e capacity of
A Souldier served King
Charles the first, King
Charles y e 2nd, King James
y e 2nd and their present
Majts. King William and
Queen Mary, whose
Pensioner he was ; belonging
To their Majests.
Royal Hospital,
and the first that was
Interr'd in this Burying
Place, who deceased y e
6 of April in y e 63 yeare
of his age, andof
our Lord
1692.
Here rests William Hiseland,
a veteran, if ever soldier was :
Who merited well a pension,
If long service be a merit,
53 ORCHARD S EPITAPHS.
Having served upwards of the days of man.
Ancient, but not superannuated,
Engaged in a series of wars
Civil as well as foreign,
Yet not maim'd or worn by either —
His complexion was fresh and florid ;
His health hale and hearty ;
His memory exact and ready.
In stature
He excelled the military size ;
In strength
He surpassed the prime of youth ;
And
What renders his age
Still more patriarchal,
When above an hundred years old,
He took unto him a wife.
Read, fellow soldiers, and reflect
That there is a spiritual warfare
As well as a warfare temporal.
Born VI of August, 1620, \ A „ eA U2
Died VII of Febru*, 1732, 5 °
Chelsea.
Henry Fawcett, died 21 Jan. 1619.
Stay, Reader, here, and, ere one foot thou pass,
See what thou art, and once what Fawcett was ;
Whose body resteth in the earthly bed,
But heavenly soul to Heaven, its home, is fled.
orchard's epitaphs. 23
What in his life he did, behold the root,
Body, branches, and afterwards the fruit,
Of him that lived by his godly care,
Of him that died with a heavenly fear ;
For look how many branches here you see,
So many hands imagine has this tree ;
Not dealing pence unto the poor around,
But royally imparting by the pound.
Oh, England ! might in every city be
So brave a vine, so beautiful a tree,
To check the base and viler shrubs below,
Who now on earth unprofitable grow !
But, Fawcett, now thou art in everlasting fame,
Let rich admire thee, poor will bless thy name.
In earth thy body sleeps, thy soul above
With angels rests in charity and love,
And Norwich mourns thy loss, not like to see
Hereafter such another like to thee.
Norwich.
Thomas Legge, LL.D. died 12 July, 1667, aged 72.
That love that living made us two but one,
Wishes at last we both may have this tomb.
The head of Gostlin still continues here,
Is kept for Legge, to whom it was so dear.
By death he lives for ever to remain,
And Gostlin hopes to meet him once again.
Norwich.
24i orchard's epitaphs.
Thomas Ashby died Feb. 28, 1738, aged 55.
In this sacred object is most pleasure,
And in Christ is both my life and treasure.
Norwich.
John Hall, Esqr. died August 10, 1816, aged 54
years.
Oh friend, in life's alternate seasons tried,
Who lived for all, for all too early died.
Fond Nature weeps that here thy prospects fade,
And death debars thee from the long-sought shade ;
But faith reflects — to thee on earth was given
To toil and suffer, thou hast rest in Heaven.
Kensington.
William Evelyn Meadows, born June 19th, 1777.
Died June 15, 1787.
Oh! early vanish'd from a parent's eye,
Born but to wake affection, and to die :
How vain the joy that mark'd each rising year,
The hope that trembled o'er his life's career !
His was the look benign, the placid mind,
And manly sense, beyond his years refined ;
Mild from his heart the gentle virtues flow'd,
And claim'd from all the love on all bestow'd.
Weep'st thou, fond Parent ? dry the falling tear,
The voice of reason and religion hear :
By them instructed, ah ! reflect how blest
The favour'd soul, recall'd to early rest ;
The spirit opening to the dawn of youth,
Still brightly pure in innocence and truth,
orchard's epitaphs. 25
While yet no sinful low desires enthral,
No passions darken, and no fears appal,
From its cold mansion parts without a sigh,
And soars unclouded to its native sky.
Kensington.
Here lyeth,
in a vault under this pew,
the bodies of
Philip Colby, Esq.
and Elizabeth his wife.
Also of Thomas Colby, Esq. his brother,
and several others of the family.
This monument was erected in memory of
them, by Sir Thomas Colby, Bart, son of the
abovesaid Philip and Elizabeth,
Anno 1727,
The abovesaid Sir Thomas Colby, Bart, died
Sept. 23, 1729, and is here interred. *
Kensington.
* Dr. King relates the following anecdote of this gen-
tleman : — " 1 knew one Sir Thomas Colby, who lived at
Kensington, and was, I think, a Commissioner in the Vic-
tualling Office : he killed himself by rising in the middle of
the night, when he was in a very profuse sweat, the effect
of a medicine which he had taken for that purpose, and
walking down stairs to look for the key of the cellar, which
he had inadvertently left on a table in his parlour ; he was
apprehensive that his servants might seize the key, and rob
him of a bottle of port wine. This man died intestate, and
left more than 200,000/, in the funds, which was shared
D
26 orchard's epitaphs.
Isabella Cave, died January 1, 1817.
Reader, if patience, meekness, faith, and truth,
Have charms for age or influence in youth,
Pause on this spot, here drop a heartfelt tear,
Then learn to die in hope and live in holy fear.
Kensington.
Joseph Stephenson, Esq. died April 26, 1785,
Aged 77.
Where this rude stone in plaintive numbers weeps,
A friend, a father, and a husband sleeps.
A heart once glowing with the sacred flame
Of every duty, these relations claim,
Of warm benevolence, and faith sincere.
Reader ! if worth, if Virtue's self be dear,
Mourn then their loss, for Stephenson lies here.
Kensington.
William Courten, died April 7, 1702, aged 62.
Wm. Courten, Esq. was grandson of Sir Wm.
Courten, and son of Mr. Wm. Courten, by Lady
Catharine Egerton. In the course of his travels
into various countries, and a residence of several
years in France, he amassed a very large collection
of antiquities and natural curiosities ; and on his
return fitted up a museum, which is said to have
among five or six day-labourers, who were his nearest
relations. He was a benefactor to this parish, and was buried
in the church.
orchard's epitaphs. 27
occupied ten rooms, at the Middle Temple. This
collection he left by will to Sir Hans Sloane, and it
maybe said to have been the first foundation of the
British Museum. He wrote a paper on the effects
of poison upon animals, published in the Philoso-
phical Transactions, and left in MS. some Remarks
on Natural Curiosities in various parts of England,
which are now among the Sloane MS.
Kensington.
Here rests that just and pious Jane,
That ever hated all that 's vain ;
Her zeal for God made her desire
T* have died a martyr in the fire ;
And into thousand pieces small
Been cut, to honour God withal.
Her life, right modest, virtuous, sober,
Ended 7th day of October, 1638.
Her purest soul, till the body rise,
Enjoys Heaven, peace in paradise.
Her virtues, hid from common sight,
Enforced her husband these to write.
Sou they, Norfolk.
Sir Thomas Hare, Bart, died July 1, 1693, aged 35.
The glorious sun, which sets at night,
Appears next morning clear and bright ;
The gaudy deckings of the earth
Do every spring receive new birth ;
But life, when fled, has no return
28 ORCHARD'S EPITAPHf.
In vain we sigh, in vain we mourn.
Yet does the turtle justly grieve her fate,
When she is left behind without her mate ;
Nor less does she who raised this tomb,
And wishes here to have a room
With that dear he who underneath doth lie,
Who was the treasure of her heart, the pleasure of
her eye.
Stow Bardolph, Norfolk.
Hugonis Hare, died 1619.
Death, time, and foul oblivion, do deface
The goodliest things that now the world do grace.
Death ends our glory, Time makes Death forgot,
Oblivion all devours, as they were not.
Stow Bardolph, Norfolk.
Fanny Smith.
Poor Fanny Smith lies here beneath interred,
Whose voice, though feeble, long and oft was heard ;
And though her life twice fifty years and two
Was said to be spun out — but, lest untrue,
She said her tomb should not, as it appears
Inscribe her age but just one hundred years.
If age and worth deserve a flowing tear,
Stranger, the drop thou shed'st is not lost here.
Died on the 30th September, 1826, at Dean,
near Bolton, Mr. John Boardman, aged 70, better
known by the name of Old Dover ; he was a very
orchard's epitaphs. 29
eccentric character, and purchased the coffin in which
the body of Longworth, who was executed at
Lancaster for murder and robbery, upwards of 30
years ago, was conveyed from that town to Bolton,
prior to its being in chains at the latter place. This
precious relic has served the deceased for his but-
tery, and, adds our informant, he was actually buried
in it,
Blackburn Mail.
In the Bishop's vault are deposited the remains
of Abraham Newland, late Chief Cashier of the
Governor and Company of the Bank of England,
whom he served with fidelity, from the year 1747 to
the 17th of September, 1807 ; when, under the pres-
sure of age and infirmity, he availed himself of an
honourable retirement, having for thirty years sedu-
lously employed the powers of an unusually energetic
mind to the various and important duties of the
office of Chief Cashier. He was born in this parish,
on the 4th of May, 1730, and died at Highbury, on
the 21st of November, 1807. #
St. Saviour's, Southwark.
* In the great vault, on the 3d of November, 1817, (during
some operations in this vault, rendered necessary by the vast
accumulation of coffins) there were discovered two bodies,
within a few feet of each other, both males, who have
hitherto proved an exception to the heart-appalling sentence —
u Dust to dust ;" for, though these bodies are supposed to have
been interred during the space of upwards of seventy years,
d 3
30 orchard's epitaphs.
Upon opening a vault for the late Duke of Glou-
cester, at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, the work-
men discovered King Charles the First's coffin ;
on opening it there appeared a strong resemblance
of the portraits painted by Sir Anthony Vandyke.
they have not yet mingled with their kindred earth. From any
thing that appears, no artificial means whatever have been
used to preserve them ; yet they are capable of being placed
in an erect posture, and the joints are as firm as when first
buried, perhaps never more firm : the one was apparently
about thirty or forty years of age when he died, the other
about sixty. The teeth of the first are still firmly rooted in
the jaw ; the muscles, sinews, bones, and even no small
portion of the fleshy parts of the legs and thighs, are entire
and elastic ; a little behind the right ear is a small portion of
hair ; the beard also is still perceptible, and the nails on the
fingers and toes are perfect. This person, it would seem,
lost his life prematurely, as just below the right shoulder
there is a large completely circular perforation, evidently pro-
duced by a musket ball. The elder body has much the same ap-
pearance as the younger, but the teeth are entirely gone : the
mouth of this one being open, the tongue and roof of the
mouth are in nearly a perfect state. I regret my want of
anatomical knowledge more correctly to describe the curious
remains, which appear like half-tanned leather. These
humiliating proofs of the vanity of human pride have excited
considerable curiosity : they are not, however, I understand,
the only specimens of a similar nature in the metropolis : at
St. Bride's, Fleet-street, and lately in the vaults of St. Mary
le Bow, Cheapside, have been discovered bodies similarly pre-
served from corruption.
Rev. J. Nightingale's, and W. Gr. Moss's Antiquities of
St. Saviour's, Southwark.
orchard's epitaphs. 31
Anne Clements, died 22d of May, 1652, aged 39.
Reader, as in a glass thou perfectly may see,
How all things here below uncertain bee ;
She was her husband's, children's, parent's, sole
delight,
By Death's impartial stroke is taken from them quite.
Bicester.
On the south side of the church-yard is the grave
of Edward Bowden, who was murdered by his
journeyman, George Strop, and for which, as the
stone informs us, he was tried, found guilty at
Oxford, hanged, and his body given to the surgeons
to be anatomized.
A poor man, named M'Bride, living in Kevin
Street, Dublin, whose wife had been for some time
confined in a fever hospital, received a notification
from the hospital on Saturday, that his wife had died,
and requiring him to send a coffin : the husband
repaired to the hospital with an oak coffin, which
was received from him at the gate, and shortly after-
wards returned, containing the body. The husband,
and several friends, had the corpse conveyed to the
Cabbage-gardens, Kevin Street, and there interred.
An hour had scarcely elapsed, when, sitting alone in
his house, he was startled by the sound of a well-
known voice : on opening the door, he almost sank
to the earth, on beholding what he conceived to be
the apparition of his departed wife, but which was in
reality herself. The mistake was now traced to the
32 orchard's epitaphs.
hospital, notification having been sent to the wrong
person : the shock, however, proved too much, and
he yesterday became an inmate in the same hospital
in which the mistake had occurred.
Dublin Morning Post, October 1828.
Here lie the bodies of John Rand, Mary Anne his
w T ife, and Elizabeth their daughter, 1659.
Three temples of the Holy Ghost,
Ruin'd by death, lie here as lost :
St. John fell first, St. Anne next year,
Then St. Elizabeth fell here :
Yet a few days, and then again,
Christ will rebuild, and in them reign.
Rodenham, Norfolk.
Edward Watson, died 1722, aged 6S.
Strait is the way to Heaven, and strait the gate,
Few enter in, because they strive too late.
Be therefore ready now as you would die ;
Our works are seed sown for eternity.
Franlingham Picott, Norfolk.
Miles Branthwaite, Esq. died 1612, aged 55.
If Death would take an answer, he was free
From all those seats of ills that he did see,
And gave no measure that he would not have
Given to him as hardly as he gave :
orchard's epitaphs. 33
Then thou, Miles Branthwaite, might have answer'd
Death,
And to be so moral might bayle breath,
Thou wast not yet to die. But be thou blsst,
From weary life thou art gone quiet to rest,
Joy in the freedom from a prison, thou
Wast by God's hands pluckt out but now,
Free from the dust and cobwebs of this vale ;
And richer art thou by the heavenly bail
Than he that shut thee up. This heap of stones
To thy remembrance, and to chest thy bones,
Thy wife doth consecrate ; so sleep till then,
When all graves must open, all yield up their men.
Hothill, Norfolk.
Anne Roscow, died 31st August, 1802, aged 40.
She mourn'd the absence of her husband dear,
She sigh'd and pined and shed the silent tear,,
That nought could save her health's decay,
While her fond partner was so far away ;
Tho' fame oft-times proclaim'd the warrior's name,
Yet his long absence still increased her pain ;
And the wish'd day he hail'd his native shore,
Was the sad day his consort was no more.
Newington, Surry.
Hugh Fairney, died July 6, 1S07, aged 51.
Alas! he's gone, and here his ashes rest,
A man whose virtues made him truly blest.
34 orchard's epitaphs.
Stay, passenger, and heave the gentle sigh,
To think that worth so great, alas ! must die.
Ye chosen few of soft-eyed pity's train,
Whose hearts re-echo to each plaintive strain,
Mourn, mourn for him, whose life we could not save,
And drop a tear of sorrow on his grave.
Newington, Surry.
Leonard Shelford, died March 22, 1734,
aged 8 years and 8 months.
He was not beloved by one, but all,
He left this world when God did call.
Knock'd at the door Death did so soon,
His morning sun went down at noon.
Grieve not for me, my parents dear,
I lie here till Christ appear.
Thetford, Norfolk.
Robert Hammond, died 15th August, 1678.
His pious memory here shall lay,
Till letters cut in stone decay.
Intwood, Norfolk.
Patience Churchill, died Sept. 29, 1768, aged 26.
If by the course of time we from her birth
Compute how long she suffer'd here on earth,
That was her date : she wither'd in her prime,
The flower scarce open'd ere it droop'd and died :
orchard's epitaphs. 35
But if we measure by a juster rule,
The height she reach'd in Virtue's sacred school,
Far longer was her span ; none then appears
So graced by time, so reverend with years.
Newington, Surry.
John Kett, died October 1, 1728, aged 76.
Though we did live so many years,
Prepare, O youth, for Death,
For if he should at noon appear,
You must give up your breath.
Henninghall, Norfolk.
John Dowe.
Here lieth the Dowe, who ne'er in his life did good,
Nor would have done, though longer he had stood.
A wife he had, both beautiful and wise,
But he ne'er would such goodness exercise.
Death was his friend, to bring him to his grave,
For he in life commendam none could have.
Attlebur^U, Norfolk.
Thomas Heming, Attorney, died 1657.
Weep, widows, orphans ; all your late support,
Himself is suramon'd to a higher court:
Living he pleaded yours, but with this clause,
That Christ at death should only plead his cause.
S wanton Morley, Norfolk.
John Birde, died September 19, 1653, aged 77.
This Birde 's the bride, the Lambe the bridegroom,
This grave 's the bride's returning room :
36 orchard's epitaphs.
Old clothes must off, new ones be on,
Against a joyful resurrection.
Thrice happy Birde, thrice happy bride,
Thus to be wedded next Christ's side.
John Birde a bride mounting aloft doth fly
To the sacred hills of blest eternity ;
Which place of rest now terminates his flight.
Crowning his faith with his Redeemer's sight.
Wendlebury.
The following is copied from a gravestone in the
Calvinist Chapel-yard at Ludworth, near Maple
Bridge.
To you that life possess great troubles do befal :
Now we that sleep in death do feel no harm.
My loving w r ife, farewell, God guide thee by his
grace !
Prepare thyself to come into a heavenly place,
Acquaintance all farewell, and be assured of this,
You must be brought to dust, as John Hibbert is.
Hammond Thurston and his wife, died Oct. 7, 1598.
In times of trouble, then her virtues shined,
In all conditions equal was her mind :
He served both kings in all the rebels' war.
They are through Christ in heaven a happy pair.
Norwich.
The Miller's Tomb. — This curious monument is on
Heydown Hill, about four miles from Worthing ; it is
orchard's epitaphs. SI
encircled by iron rails, is six feet long, and three
broad ; the sides are built of brick, and the top and
ends of stone. It was erected in the year 1766, by
John Oliver, the miller, being twenty-seven years
previous to his decease. He died April 22, 1793,
aged 84 years. The monument is strewed with a
pious text out of the burial service, and some poetical
inscriptions — the effusions of his own muse. It
is said that this singular man had his coffin made for
many years before his death, and, having a taste
for mechanism, caused it, upon touching a spring,
to run out on castors. It was wheeled every night
under his bed. The summer-house near the tomb
was also built by the miller ; the delightful prospect
from it constituted his greatest enjoyment : and it is
to be regretted that this house is suffered to remain
in its present dilapidated state, as Oliver left a
handsome annuity of 20/. per annum, to keep this
and the tomb from falling to decay.
Warwickshire. — Opening a grave for Teeth.
On Wednesday, James Foxley w r as charged with
having, at Birmingham, on the 20th of July last,
violated and disturbed the remains of Jonathan
Bedford, who had been buried in St. Bartholomew
Chapel-yard. The body, which was that of a young
man, nineteen years of age, had been interred on the
19th of July. The prisoner, who was a gravedigger,
was seen at the grave at 8 o'clock the next morning,
E
3$ orchard's epitaphs.
by a little girl, who thought the grave had been
opened. In consequence, the chapel- wardens were
applied to, and they permitted the grave to be
opened : the coffin lid was broken, the head of the
deceased was shockingly cut and mangled, and the
teeth had been taken from the jaws. On the pri-
soner being asked what he had been digging at the
grave for, he said he had lost a rope in filling up
the grave, and had taken out some of the earth to
look for it.
He was found guilty, and sentenced to be im-
prisoned three calendar months in jail.
1826.
Sacred
to the memory
of Edward Thomas Sparrow,
of this Parish, who was unfortunately
drowned by his breaking through the ice,
in Wellington Pond, Hackney, while skaiting
on the 20th of January, 1826 ?
in the 13th year of his age.
Limehouse,
John Carter, died 1667, aged 73 years.
His course, his flight, his race*
Death brings him to the place,
From whence is no return.
orchard's epitaphs. 39
Never did seaman harbour spy,
Nor pilgrim see his home draw nigh,
Nor captive hear of his return,
Nor servant his indenture burn,
Nor banish'd prince retrieve his crown,
Nor tired man at night lie down, —
With greater joy than he express'd,
At sight of his approaching rest.
Yarmouth.
JefTery Brown,, died Oct. 2, 1740, aged -60.
A good companion, and an honest friend,
Rare virtues in this age ; and here they end.
In hopes of a joyful resurrection.
Narburgh, Norfolk.
Mary Wanley, died Nov. 16, 1709, aged 60.
Beneath this marble stone interr'd doth lie,
One of known diffusive charity :
She unto all was generous and free,
But to those that were poor especially ;
None at the door would she let craving stay.
Or ever go without an alms away ;
Nor did she only good in public view,
But frequently unask'd in private too.
What her right hand did freely thus bestdw
So secret was, her left hand did not know,
She liberal was according to her store,
And ofttimes griev'd because she gave no more
40 orchard's epitaphs.
In this alone, reader, I wish that you
Not only praise, but imitate her too.
Barmingham, Norfolk.
Elizabeth Cross, died Jan. 4, 1806, aged 72.
In this cold grave ray body lies at rest,
Till Christ my king shall raise it to be blest.
This world is nothing, but heaven is all,
Death does not hurt me by my fall.
Though many friends for me have cause to weep*
I am not dead, but here asleep.
At the great day of judgement I shall rise
With favour in the Bridegroom's eyes.
Newington, Surrey.
Sarah Long, died April 8, 1720.
Here lies a noble pair, who were in name,
In heart and mind and sentiments the same :
The arithmetic rule then can't be true,
For one and one did never here make two.
Dunstan, Norfolk.
Sarah Scargill, died August 22, 1680, aged 30 years,
Come, pilgrim, to thy home !
Dear love ; one feather'd minute, and I come
To lie down in thy dark and resting room,
And mingle dust with thine,— that we may have,
As when alive one bed, so dead one grave ;
orchard's epitaphs. 41
And may my soul tear through the vaulted sky,
To be with thine to all eternity !
Oh ! how our bloodless forms will that day greet,
With love divine, when we again shall meet.
Divested of all contagion of the flesh,
Full fill'd with everlasting joys, and fresh
In heav'n above ; and maybe cast an eye,
How far Elysium doth beneath us lie.
Dear, I disbody and away,
More swift than wind or flying hind, I come, I come !
Mulbarton, Norfolk.
Samuel Cock, died Oct. 17, 1727, aged 77o
Stay, hasty traveller, whoe'er you be,
Tell if you can, what is to come of me ?
Conscious of guilt, my soul, as one afraid,
Fled from that body which now here is laid.
Thoughtful in life, make it your chiefest care,
What you must be, as well as what you are:
Death makes the stoutest hearts and hands to yield,
Cease to dispute, and tamely quit the field ;
And, when approaching, makes all living fear,
To be they know not what, they know not where.
Wacton Magna, Norfolk.
Matilda Bowen, died 12 July, 1799, aged 5 years,
8 months.
Here rests in peace the body of a child,
Who was in temper lovely, meek, and mild.
42 orchard's epitaphs.
In whom her parents greatly did delight,
And she was precious in the Saviour's sight.
As Death approach'd, she anxious was to fly
To Jesus' breast, to dwell with him on high :
With outstretch'd arms, her father she address'd,
" What is't o'clock ?" she said, with lab'ring breast :
" Take me, take me, that I may be at rest."
These were the last sweet words that she express'dc
The Saviour heard, and caught her to the skies,
And now she chaunts his praises in eternal joys.
Newington, Surrey.
Mary Jackson, died 1728 ;
in the flower of her age.
Dearest to us of human kind,
Lovely in body and in mind,
Farewell ! With many a flowing tear,
Thy friends this monument prepare.
Little, alas ! to thee, it's true,
That all thy parents' love can do.
Yarmouth.
John Mayne, died April 1, 1810, aged 11 months
16 days.
Here lies a lovely baby dear,
Who left his parents to shed a tear
Of sorrow on this grave.
Whate'er parental care could do,
And every other means pursue,
Could not this infant save;
orchard's epitaphs. 43
The Lord from whom all blessings flow,,
Look'd down and call'd him from below,
Celestial bliss to have.
Newington, Surrey.
Susannah Robinson, died Aug. 27, 1799, aged 53.
Weep not for me, my husband dear,
For I am gone to rest ;
The Lord thought fit me to afflict
With a cancer in my breast.
1 many months did torture bear
With fortitude and pain ;
My doctor tried his best of skill:
And though it proved in vain,
Farewell^ my dear ! pray don't you fear,
The Lord he will you bless :
I hope to meet you once again,
In happiness and bliss.
Newington, Surrey.
Hammond Lestrange, died 31st May, 1654, aged 7L
In heaven at home, oh, blessed change !
Who, while I was on earth was Strange*
Hunstaunton, Norfolk.
44 orchard's epitaphs.
Robert Sutton, died Sept. 9, 1789, aged 47.
An honest man, a sincere friend ;
Need more be said?— he's buried here.
St. Mary, Islington.
Here are laid, under this stone, in the clay,
Thomas Amys and his wife Margery.
Sometime we ware as you now be,
And as we be, after this shall ye.
Of the goods as God had the Thomas lent,
Did he make this chapel of a good intent ;
Wherefore they desire of you that be,
To pray for them to the last eternity.
I beseech all people far and near,
To pray for me, Thomas Amys, heartily,
Which gave a mass-book, and made this chapel here :
And a suit of blue damask also gave I.
Of God 1511 and 5 year
I the said Thomas deceased verily,
And the 4th day of August, was buried here,
On whose soul God have mercy.
Barton, Norfolk.
William Joyce, died Feb. 15, 1791, aged 72.
Happy is he, the only happy man,
Who out of choice does all the good he can ;
Who business loves, and others better makes
By prudent industry, and pains he takes ;
ORCHARD S EPITAPHS. 45
God's blessing he will have, a man's esteem,
And when he dies his works will follow him.
Newington, Surrey.
Mary Sirdefield, died 14th July, 1795, aged 18,
Mary possess'd a well-disposed mind,
Religion dawn'd upon her early youth,
Pure were her sentiments, by grace refined,'
And steadfast virtue deck'd her lips with truth.
St. Mary, Islington.
Elizabeth Maymott, died June 30, 1797, aged 29.
— Smitten friends
Are angels sent on errands full of love ;
For us they languish, and for us they die.
And shall they languish,, shall they die in vain ?
Shall we disdain their silent, soft address,
Their posthumous advice, and pious prayer?
Then at thy friend's expense be wise.
Lean not on earth, 'twill pierce thee to the heart :
A broken reed at best ; but oft a spear,
On whose sharp point Peace bleeds and Hope ex-
pires.
Earth's highest station ends in f Here he lies,'
And ' dust to dust' concludes her noblest song,
St. Mary, Islington.
46 orchard's epitaphs.
Nicholas Timperley, Esq. died Sept. 24, t664>.
Successive nights and days we had on earth,
Extracted from one womb, a second birth.
Here sleeping, we expect day without night,
To wake, we hope, into eternal light.
Lo ! Time- pearl-eye, a rebus, which to thee
Speaks what I whilom was,— a Timperley.
Wing'd time is flown, so is the world from me ;
A glittering pearl, whose gloss is vanity.
But the eye of Hope is of a nobler flight :
To reach beyond thee, Death,-— enjoy His sight
Who conquer'd thee : hence springs my hope that I
Shall rise the same, and more a Timperley.
Colkirk, Norfolk.
Thomas Castle, died Aug e 15, 1757, aged 3<
The rich, the poor, the monarch, and the slave,
Rest under turf, and no disquiet have,
In the cold chamber of the silent grave.
Camberwell.
William Spiller, died March 7, 1748, aged 65 a
Reader, behold this monument of Death !
Inlaid a friend deprived of mortal breath.
How sweetly sleeps the soul that dies in peace,
Earnest of endless joys, which ne'er can cease.
A true believer in the third record,
Which does declare Christ is the only Lord,
orchard's epitaphs. 47
Here patient waits the last great trumpet's sound,
Whilst nature shakes and trembles all around.
The faithful seed shall then arise, and shine
In measure glorious, like their god divine :
With joyful acclamations they ascend, ,
Surrounding their Redeemer, King, and Friend,
With Hallelujahs that will never end.
St. Mary, Islington.
Charles Henry Trye, died 8th Feb. 1809.
A lovely baby lies sleeping here :
Short was on earth its stay ;
For at the age of two years old>
Alas ! 'twas took away.
St. Mary, Islington.
Jane Seymour, died June 14, 1806, aged 41.
She 's gone,
So must you, sinner, go ; — but where ?
No trust to self ; on firmer ground she stood ;
Her hope was founded on a Saviour's blood.
A sinner saved, who in Death's trying hour
Did cast her soul on Jesus' love and power.
And now with myriads of the ransom'd race,
Ascribes her bliss to free and sovereign grace.
As such her happy lot, then why complain ?
My loss, though great, is her eternal gain,
St. Mary, Islington.
48 orchard's epitaphs,
Sir Anthony Gaudy, Knt. died March 30, 1642.
Virtue, justice, goodness rare,
Are all interr'd within this place
With this good knight ; so good whose fame,
That now in heaven most glorious his name,
To sing Hallelujah with the celestial flock.
Helgheton, Norfolk.
William Salter.
Here lies Will Salter, honest man,
Deny it, Envy, if you can :
True to his business and his trust,
Always punctual, always just ;
His horses, could they speak, would tell,
They loved their good old master well.
His up-hill work is chiefly done,
His stage is ended, race is run ;
One journey is remaining still,
To climb up Sion's holy hill, j
And now his faults are all forgiven*
Elijah like, drives up to heaven,
Takes the reward of all his pains,
And leaves to other hands the reins.
Haddiscoe, Norfolk.
orchard's epitaphs. 49
Richard Wade, died Oct. 21, 1810, aged 53.
Giles Wade, died Dec. 8, 1810, aged 53.
Near together they came,
Near together they went,
Near together they are.
Camberwell.
In memory of
Robert Thomas Crossfield, M. D.
son of the late Francis Crossfield,
of Spinnithorn, in the county of York,
Who died 8th Nov. 1802,
Aged 44 years.
Beneath this stone Tom Crossfield lies,
Who cares not now who laughs or cries.
He laugh'd when sober, and when mellow
Was ahar'em-scar'em heedless fellow.
He gave to none design'd offence,
So honi soit qui mal y pense.*
Hendon,
Dr. William Rose, died 1786.
Whoe'er thou art, with silent footsteps tread
The hallow'd mould where Rose reclines his head.
Ah ! let not folly one kind tear deny,
But pensive pause where truth and honour lie.
* Tried for the Pop-gun Plot, and honourably acquitted.
50 orchard's epitaphs.
His the gay wit that fond attention drew, —
Oft heard, and oft admired, yet ever new ;
The heart that melted at another's grief ;
The hand in secret that bestow'd relief;
Science untinctured by the pride of schools,
And native goodness, free from formal rules.
With zeal through life he toil'd in learning's cause,
But more, fair Virtue, to promote thy laws.
His every action sought the noblest end.
The tender husband, father, brother, friend.
Perhaps e'en now, from yonder realms of day,
To his loved relatives he sends a ray,
Pleased to behold affections like his own
With filial duty raise this humble stone.
Chiswick.
John Ayton Thompson.
If in the morn of life each winning grace,
The converse sweet, the mind-illumed face,
The lively wit that charm'd with early art,
And mild affections streaming from the heart —
If these, loved youth, could check the hand of fate,
Thy matchless worth had claim'd a longer date.
But thou art bless'd ; while here we heave the sigh,
Thy death is virtue wafted to the sky.
Yet still thy image fond affection keeps ;
The sire remembers, and the mother weeps.
Still the friend grieves, who saw thy vernal bloom,
And here, sad task, inscribes it on thy tomb.
orchard's epitaphs. 51
Francis Deakin, died 18th April, 1780, aged 51.
Beneath this stone doth honest Deakin lie ;
The good, the great, the virtuous, all must die.
He acted well his part while here on earth ;
To heaven now called, enjoys a better birth.
Friend to the poor, a friend to all he knew,
His virtues many, and his faults but few ; —
Those few were only nature's common lot;
Think of his goodness, faults may be forgot*
St. Mary's, Islington.
Life is a snare, a labyrinth of woe,
Which wretched man is doom'd to struggle through ;
To day he 's great, to-morrow he 's undone.
And thus in hopes and fears he blunders on,
Till some disease, or else perhaps old age,
Call the poor mortal trembling from the stage.
James Testar, died Oct. 1, 1811, aged 65.
Beneath this sod, a mortal mouldering frame,
Sown in corruption, waits a nobler claim ;
Till that illustrious morning shall arrive,
When all who sleep in dust shall rise and live,
No more to die, but in eternal days
To praise the wisdom of redeeming grace.
Pause, reader ! meditate upon thy doom,
Each fleeting moment wafts thee to the tomb.
St. Mary's, Islington.
52 orchard's epitaphs.
Bonnel George Thornton, died April 14, 1790,
aged 24.
Oh ! worth in early youth, by all approved,
Oh ! happy genius, ripen'd in thy bloom,
To thee, for every social virtue loved,
Thy friend, thy brother, consecrates this torn b.
Cloisters, Westminster Abbey.
Sir Charles Mordaunt, Bart.
Died July 10, 1648, aged S3.
Here remains in civil trust,
His beloved revered in dust,
Whose goodness is secure from fear
Of finding any sepulchre.
Massingham Parva, Norfolk.
Henrietta Wrixon, died 27th May, 1800, aged 17.
Reader, who lov'st with pious awe to tread
These solemn mansions of the dead,
Deem not to such illustrious names offence,
This stone inscribed to youthful innocence ;
To worth like hers, whatever may be given,
Pertains precedence 'midst the choir of Heaven.
Cloisters, Westminster Abbey.
orchard's epitaphs* 53
William Sym, died Dec. 28, 1796, aged 32.
Impartial Death, that levels each degree,
Has eased the humble, and set the weary free ;
Freed from a sinful world, with grief opprest,
How welcome Death, that kindly gives him rest !
St. Margaret's, Westminster.
John Sym, died May 16, 1801, aged 70.
Beneath reposes all that Heaven could lend,
The best of husbands, a father, and a friend
In sickness patient, and to death resign'd,
He left the world, a pattern to mankind.
St. Margaret's, Westminster.
James Brown, died June 29, 1806, aged 45.
All you that do pass by this stone,
Behold how soon my time was gone ;
Death does not always warning give,
Therefore be careful how you live.
St. Margaret's, Westminster.
William Harborne, Esq. died Nov. 7, 1617.
Reader, the dust inclosed beneath this pile,
A life unspotted lived, devoid of every guile —
Plain in his manners, sincere to his friend ;
r 3
54 orchard's epitaphs.
A pattern of virtue with honesty combined,
Shown through every action, while here on earth,
'Till unerring fate had stopp'd his breath.
Mundham, Norfolk.
To the memory of
Thomas Hull, Esq.
Late of the Theatre Royal Covent Garden,
Founder of the Theatrical Fund,
who departed this life April 22, 1808,
in the 79th year of his age.
Hull, long respected in the scenic art,
On life's great stage sustain'd a virtuous part ;
And some memorial of his zeal to show
For his art, and shelter age from woe,
He form'd that noble fund, which guards his name,
Embalm'd by gratitude, enshrined by fame.
St. Margaret's, Westminster.
Mary Haigh, died 5th July, 1804, aged 44.
A friend to all, a foe to none ;
And I lament that she is gone.
St. Margaret's, Westminster.
orchard's epitaphs. 55
Joseph Armitage, died 19th Dec. 1803,
aged 44 years.
From this vain world of noise and strife,
To enjoy a new-born life,
Our dearest brother, his body we commit to
earth,
His soul to God, who gave him birth,
To raise him from the dead.
St. Margaret's, Westminster.
Mary Negus, died 16th Sept. 1810, aged 64.
Thus Death o'er Nature has prevail'd,
And all the springs of life have fail'd :
But her immortal part doth rest
With God her Saviour, ever blest.
St. Margaret's, Westminster.
Paul Whitehead, Esq. died Dec. 30, 1774.
Unhallow'd hands, this urn forbear,
No gems nor oriental spoil
Lie here conceal'd, but what 's more rare,
A heart that knew no guile.
West Wycombe, Bucks.
56 orchard's epitaphs.
Thomas Hawkes, died Dec. 1730.
Though Death sometimes whole families invade,
Witness the spoils which here in dust are laid ;
Let us lead holy lives, so may we sing,
O King of Terrors ! thou hast no sting.
Leir, Leicestershire.
John Mason, and Elizabeth.
This youngest son, whom we did early prize,
Soonest was taken from our eyes ;
Edward Mason, his years were few,
His age was twenty-two.
Leir, Leicestershire.
Edward Moreton, died 1758.
Oh, man ! contemplate on thy mortal frame,
And calm submit to the decree of fate.
Let virtue be thy guide, while here on earth,
Then young or old ne'er fear to meet with death.
Bitterswell, Leicestershire.
George Bulman, baker and brewer, 1710.
Nought can exempt from Death's imperial hand
When it arrests the soul at God's command.
Each state and sex, as well the high as low,
Must once salute the grave, and thither go.
Newcastle.
orchard's epitaphs. 57
John Morris, died 14th Feb. 1687.
Here lies his dust, who, living, had the love
Of all that knew him here, of God above ;
Whose soul with too much virtue was array'd,
In this world's pest-house to be longer stay'd ;
And therefore, to secure his innocence,
He bade adieu and took his flight from hence,
Ascending to the court of power divine,
To choose his Saviour for a Valentine.
Ashfordby, Leicestershire.
Thomas West, M.D. died 17th Aug. 1738, aged 70.
Without a pang translated straight to Heaven,
And scarcely feeling when the stroke was given ;
As if, well skill'd in every lenient art,
Thyself hadst smoothed Destruction's painful dart ;
Didst thou discover where this transient span
Was ended, where immortal life began?
But soon the wondrous change thou shalt perceive,
No longer call'd the wretched to relieve,
Thy science useless, and thy worth approved,
Shall tell thee that from earth thou art removed.
Merton College, Oxford.
Mr. Langford, Auctioneer.
So, so, Master Langford, the hammer of Death
Hath knock'd out your brains, and deprived you of
breath ;
'Tis but tit for tat, he who puts up the town,
By Devil or Death must at last be knock'd down.
58 orchard's epitaphs.
On a Lady's Tombstone.
Reflect, O stranger ! what is mortal life ?
A complicated scene of woe and strife ;
More fleeting than the blossom of a flower,
Which blooms at noon, and ere the day is o'er,
It droops its head and fades, and is no more.
J Tis short indeed, 'tis merely but a span ;
Reflect on this, and learn to live, O man !
Secure in hope, to-day our health we trust,
To-morrow joins us to our native dust.
H. F, Offley.
On a Glazier.
Precarious dealer : Death, alas !
Has snapt in two life's brittle glass.
Keen was thy diamond on the pane,
And well thy putty stopt the rain ;
But all thy cuts were weak through life,
Death cut more certain with his scythe, —
And thou, safe from a rainy day,
Art puttied up in mother's clay.
W. B. R.
Rev. Mr. Thomas Prince, died 1757, aged 74,
Who lies here ? Reader, stay,
I, Thomas Prince, lie in clay ;
And he that reads think of me,
And of the glass that runs for thee.
Wigley, Staffordshire.
orchard's epitaphs. 59
William Marlphant, died May 29, 1806,
Aged 17 years.
Believe, and look with triumph on the tomb !
Bermondsey.
John Loftus, died Aug. 9, 1721, aged 66 years.
We daily see Death spares nor sex nor age,
Sooner or later all do quit the stage,
The old, the young, the strong, the rich, the wise,
Must all become to him a sacrifice.
Norwich.
Mary, who late was William Boss's pride,
Here sleepeth by her father Hudson's side,
Who eighteen years in sacred wedlock spent ;
Then, with one child, unto the saints she went.
She is not dead, who fix'd her steady heart,
With faithful Mary, on the better part.
Norwich.
John King, died 8th April, 1658.
Hymen did bless him with a worthy mate.
Ere Cynthia doubled her revolution,
Heaven, willing that he should anticipate
His glory, wrought his dissolution.
It was decreed, so do not thou mourn,
His relict turtle, against necessity ;
He never will unto the ark return,
He hath found better footing equally ;
60 orchard's epitaphs.
Thank Almighty God, which to thee gave him;
And Almighty God, which from thee have him.
Norwich.
Susan Brown, died 1686.
Here lies a single flower, scarcely blown.
Ten more before the northern door are strewn ;
Pluck'd from the self- same stalk, only to be
Transplanted to a better nursery.
Norwich.
Henry Rogers, died April 17, 1641.
We w r ere not slain, but raised, raised not to life,
But to be buried twice, by men of strife.
What rest could the living have when the dead hac
none ?
Agree amongst you ; here we ten are one.
Christ Church, Hampshire.
Captain Henry Graves, died 17th Aug. 1702,
Aged 52 years.
Here in one grave more than one grave lies ;
Enviou s Death at last hath gain'd his prize.
No pills or potions could make Death tarry,
Resolved he was to fetch away old Harry.
Ye foolish doctors, could you all miscarry ?
orchard's epitaphs. 6l
Great were his actions on the boisterous waves,
Resistless seas could never conquer Graves.
Ah, Colchester, lament his overthrow,
Unhappily you lost him at a blow :
Each marine hero for him shed a tear ;
St. Margaret's, too, in this must have a share.
St. Margaret's Chapel, near Hoddesdon.
Elizabeth King, died Dec. 7, 1782, aged 24 years.
Go, happy spirit, freed from sin and cares,
Go claim the palm which patience wears ;
Enjoy the meed victorious meekness gains ;
Go take the crown triumphant faith obtains.
What artful vice and humble worth conceal,
The day of dread disclosure shall reveal ;
Then shall thy life in sweet memorial rise,
And God himself, the judge, award the prize.
Chipping Wycombe, Bucks.
P. M. S.
Captain Nicholas Tattersell,
Through whose prudence, valour, and loyalty,
Charles the Second, King of England,
After he had escaped the sword of his merciless
rebels,
And his forces received a fatal overthrow
At Worcester, Sep. 3, 1651,
62 orchard's epitaphs.
Was faithfully preserved, and conveyed to France ;
Departed this life 26th July, 1674.
Within this marble monument doth lie
Approved faith, honour, and loyalty :
In this cold clay he has now taken up his station,
Who once preserved the church, the crown, and
nation.
When Charles the great was nothing but a breath,
This valiant soul stept in twixt him and death :
Usurper's threats, nor tyrant's rebel frown,
Could not affright his duty to the crown;
Which glorious act of his for Church and State,
Eight princes in one day did gratulate ;
Professing all to him in debt to be,
As all the world are to his memory.
Since earth could not reward the worth him given,
He now receives it from the King of Heaven.
In the same chest one jewel more you have,
The partner of his virtue, bed, and grave.
Brighton.
Robert Kemp, died 28th Nov. 1621.
Wife, children, wealth, this world, and life forsaken,
In silent dust I sleep, whence, once awaken,
My Saviour's might a glorious change will give :
So losing all, I gain, and dying live.
My fame I trust the world with, for 'tis true-
Posterity gives every man his due.
Chipping Wycombe, Bucks.
orchard's epitaphs. 63
Sir Joseph Danvers, died 1753.
When young, I sail'd to India, East and West,
But aged, in this port must lie to rest,
Suthland, Leicestershire.
Elizabeth Clobury, died 1777.
Could sculptured emblems aught express,
Or show the loss they mourn,
The numerous virtues that did bless
Thy life, m ight grace the urn ;
All veilM might Modesty attend,
Mild Justice might appear,
Religion mourn her constant friend,
And Patience drop a tear.
Great Marlow, Bucks.
Sir Miles Hobart, died June 1632.
Write not a day this spectacle that charms,
Death from thy birth doth clasp thee to his arms ;
Youthful as thou mayest be, yet he is gone,
And thou must follow, no man knows how soon.
Learn this of him, prepared be thou to die,
Then shalt thou live through immortality.
Great Marlow, Bucks.
64 orchard's epitaphs.
Robert Weedon, died 14th Oct. 1659, aged
82 years.
The church he always did frequent,
To hear God's word was his intent ;
He loved the poor, he hated pride,
He loved God's w r ord, which was his guide :
Nothing remains, but the actions of the just,
Which never die, nor turn to dust.
Great Marlow, Bucks.
To Katherine Willoughby, much loved in life,
As memoirs of her virtues ever living,
William, the husband of so rare a wife,
Performed these duties of love never dying.
Behold this tomb with a regarding eye,
And read my loss, her worth, which here doth lie,
Whose life, though long, too short her friends
esteemed,
Though virtues ripe for him who took her hence :
Her soul's last cry, by him to be redeem'd,
Soon granted, left a body void of sense.
Years sixteen eight, six children, each kind three ;
A maid, a wife, she lived, and left to me.
Fawley, Bucks.
Martha Doyley, died 1618.
Ask not of me who's buried here ?
Go ask the commons, ask the shire ;
ORCHARD S EPITAPHS.
Go ask the church, they tell you who,
As well as blubber eyes can do ;
Go ask the heralds, ask the poor,
Thine ears shall hear enough to ask no more.
Then, if thine eyes bedew this sacred urn,
Each drop a pearl will turn.
Tread on this tomb, or if thou canst not vent,
Then bring more marble to this monument.
Hambledon, Bucks.
Edward Golfer, Esq. died 1657,
Aged 65 years.
He learn'd to die while he had breath,
And so he lives even after death.
Heydown, Norfolk.
Sacred
To the Memory of John Irving, Esq.
of Sligo, Ireland,
Surgeon to his Majesty's Forces,
Who died on the 22d of April, 1810,
Aged 33 years ;
A victim, like thousands of our
Gallant Countrymen,
To the fatal consequences of the
Unfortunate Expedition to the Scheldt,
Commanded by John Earl of Chatham.
St. MartinVin-the-Fields.
Q 3
GG orchard's £p*tap&s.
Near this place are the remains of
William Bacon,
of the Salt Office, London, gent.
Who was killed by thunder and lightning
at his window, July 12, 1787,
Aged 34 years.
By touch ethereal in a moment slain,
He felt the power of death, hut not the pain ;
Swift as the lightning glanced, his spirit flew,
And bade the rough tempestuous world adieu.
Short was his passage to that peaceful shore,
Where storms annoy and dangers threat no more.
St. Mary, Lambeth.
William Smyth, died May 14, 1802,
Aged 43 years.
H ere lies interr'd, beneath this stone,
A sinner saved by grace alone.
St. Paul's, Covent Garden.
Cornelius Hargrave, died 2d April, 1826,
Aged 2 years.
Had he lived to be a man>
This inch had grown to be a span ;
Now he is past all fear and pain,
It were a sin to wish him here again.
View but the way by which we come,
Thou ? lt say he is best that's first at home*
Blickling, Norfolk.
orchard's epitaphs. GJ
Elizabeth Hill, died 29th Nov. 1786, aged 61.
A good wife, a tender mother,
And sincere friend.
Mourn not, though nature will be nature still,
To view the last remains of Henry Hill;
Who, when alive, was brave, was just and true,
Find out a fault, and it may fix on you.
St, Mary, Lambeth.
Here dead in part, whose best part never dieth,
A benefactor, William Cutting, lieth ;
Not dead, if good deeds could keep men alive,
Nor all dead, since good deeds do men survive ;
Gonville and Kays may his good deeds record,
And will, no doubt, him praise therefore afford.
St. Katharine's, near London, can it tell;
Goldsmiths and Merchant Taylors know it w r ell :
Two country towns his civil bounty blest,
East Dareham, and Norton Fitzwarren West.
East Dareham, Norfolk.
Joseph Carrall, died 15th Jan. 1806, aged 12 years.
A youth so mild and pleasing to each one,
Equall'd by few, excelPd by none.
St. Paul's, Covent Garden.
68 orchard's epitaphs.
Joseph Jenkinson, died Oct. 16, 1797, aged 27
years.
O Death! 'twas thine to will an early tomb,
And snatch'd the prey ere manhood fired his bloom ;
Yet, yet he lives, and now can smile at fate,
Which changed an earthly for an heavenly state.
St. Mary, Lambeth.
Sarah Law, died July 16, 1803, aged 39.
My husband, and my children dear,
Do not weep, though my dust rest here .
Though death has snatch'd me in my prime,
In heaven, I hope, our souls will join.
Short was my illness, yet severe the pain,
When God did please for Death to ease me of my
pain.
Christ Church, Surrey.
Mary Smith, died 3d Nov. 1803, aged 50.
Well tried through many a varying year,
See Mary to the grave descend ;
Pous, affectionate, sincere,
Of every friendless name the friend.
St. Bride's, Fleet Street.
John Reynolds, died 11th Jan. 1807, aged 44.
Mourn not for me, O wife so dear,
Nor let my children shed a tear.
orchard's epitaphs. 69
The Lord who bought me with his blood,
Hath call'd my spirit home to God !
My dust doth here in hope remain,
That when the Lord shall come again
To judge the world, his blessed voice
Shall raise it to eternal joys.
St. Paul's, Covent Garden.
Dr. Stephen Freeman, died March 6, 1790,
Aged 50 years.
Go on, vain man, to luxury be firm,
You know I feasted but to feast a worm.
Already sure, less trouble I seem,
And you, like me, shall own that life 's a dream.
Farewell ! remember, nor my words despise,
The only happy are the truly wise.
Why start ? the case is yours, or will be soon,
Some years perhaps, perhaps another moon ;
Life at its utmost length is still a breath,
And those who longest dream must wake in death.
St. Bride's, Fleet Street.
Here lies Peg, that drunken sot,
Who dearly loved her jug and pot ;
There she lies,, as sure as can be,
She killed herself by drinking brandy.
Rathlv.
70 orchard's epitaphs.
Mary Edwards, died Dec. 6, 1801, aged 36.
Mild was her temper,
Modest was her life,
A tender mother,
And a virtuous wife.
St. Paul's, Covent Garden.
Martha Mortimer, aged 23 years.
What avails the sprightly shape,
A seeming strength of constitution ?
The young may die, the aged must ;
Then all prepare to meet the awful change.
Harborough, Leicestershire.
John Allayne, B.D. died 1739.
Vain to the dead are tears, and vain is praise,
And vain each fond memorial we can raise.
So on the pile Arabian incense thrown,
Glads with its sweets the living sense alone.
The friends we mourn with sacred love were
fraught,
And truths divine with Christian zeal they taught :
Still may they teach, still from the grave impart
Such truths as melt the eye and mend the heart.
Oh, from the tomb may holy musings rise,
And life's poor triflers, as they read, grow wise !
ORCHARD S EPITAPHS. 71
For friendship poureth not the plaintive strain,
Nor builds the hallow'd monuments in vain,
If the sad marble bids the living praise,
And vice one moment to reflection draws.
Loughborough.
Mary Hill, died 1784.
With pain and sickness wasted to a bone,
Long time to gracious Heaven I made my moan ;
Then God at length to my complaint gave ear,
And sent kind Death to ease my pain and care.
Physicians could no longer save the life
Of a tender mother, and a loving wife.
Harborough, Leicestershire.
Joseph Jyzard, died 1775, aged 66.
Reader, whoe'er thou art, let the sight of this stone
Imprint in thy mind that young and old,
Without distinction, leave this world ;
And therefore fail not to secure the next.
Harborough, Leicestershire.
Francis Fox, vicar, died 1662.
My debt to Death is paid unto a sand,
And pay thou must, that there doth reading stand ;
And am laid down to sleep, till Christ from high
Shall raise me, although grim Death stand by.
Barkly, Leicestershire.
72 orchard's epitaphs.
Rev. Mr. Clark.
He wrongs the dead, who thinks this marble frame
Was built to be the guardian of each name,
Whereas 'twas for their ashes only meant,
Their names are set to guard the monument.
Thedingworth.
George White, jun. died 1712.
Behold and see what God has done,
Here lies his father's only son,
A man — but words are wanting to say what ;
Say all that's just and good, and he was that.
Lutterworth.
Martha Tudor, died Aug. 17, 1798, aged 62.
Let this to all a warning be,
For death still to prepare ;
For it will come, you know not when,
The manner how, or where.
Bermondsey.
Sarah Walter, died Nov. 16, 1713,
Aged 5 years and 3 months.
Here lies the grief of a fond mother,
And the blasted expectation of an indulgent father.
Bermondsey.
orchard's epitaphs. 73
A letter from Madrid, dated Nov. 9, contains the
following story: — The Marquis de Bolgida, Comp-
troller-General, had a sudden attack of apoplexy,
which ended, as it was thought, in his death. He
was dressed in the habit of a monk, as is the con-
stant custom of our country, and deposited in the
vault of the church of St. Juste, his parish : how-
ever, at eleven o'clock last night the Marquis awoke
from his lethargy, raised himself from his coffin (for
in general our coffins are not fastened), and his fear
giving him additional strength, he made his way to
the grating of the vault opening to the street, and
called to the first person he saw, who, frightened in
his turn, ran away as fast as he could, calling out
that ghosts were coming forth from the vault of Sr.
Juste. The Marquis, finding himself thus treated,
recollected the name of a carpenter known to him,
and who lived opposite, and called to him so loudly
that he succeeded in waking him : the carpenter
went out, and though not much pleased in hearing
himself called upon from a place the inhabitants of
which are generally very taciturn, he by degrees
collected his thoughts, understood what the Marquis
wished him to do, and went immediately to give the
cure of the parish an account of what had taken
place. The Marquis was liberated from the vault
and taken to his home, where he now remains ill in
bed, and on the point of really dying, through the
supposed death which he lately suffered.
Newi, Nov. 1826.
74 orchard's epitaphs.
A horrible old woman of the name of Purford,
living in Gulston Street, Brick Lane, was examined
at Lambeth Street Office, on Wednesday, on a charge
of selling the body of her deceased husband to the
surgeons. The charge was pretty clearly proved,
but the magistrate was compelled to confess that his
power did not reach so far as to punish the offence :
the mob, however, took the case in hand, and the old
hag was with difficulty preserved from their fury.
News, Nov. 1826.
Epitaph for a Card-maker.
His card is cut ; long days he shuffled through
The game of Life ; he dealt as others do.
Though he by honours tells not its amount,
When the last trump is play'd, his tricks will count.
William Timperley, died 10th May, 1660.
Reader,
However young and strong, be not in breath
Too confident ; since by untimely death,
(A pistol breaking in his hand) lies here
A Timperley : rather a tear
Distill, than judge, since he so worthy dies ;
Rather let fall another from thine eyes,
And (serious) say (ask not a reason why)
Better die soon, than longer live and die.
Colkirk, Norfolk.
orchard's epitaphs. 75
William Palin, died Oct. 25, 1782, aged 86.
Silent grave, to thee I trust
This precious pearl of worthy dust.
Keep it safe, O sacred tomb 1
Until a wife shall ask for room.
Bermondsey.
Elizabeth Selby, died April 10, 1792, aged 48 years.
She was the good Samaritan :
Through wet and cold, to dress their wounds ;
When they could not walk to get support,
She set them on their legs to work for bread.
For her good skill and good will she was used ill
For sense and grace and good works,
True in the gospel of Christ and his church,
She sleeps in peace, releas'd from pain,
And all her cares are at an end ;
And now she lies beneath the earth,
Until the rising of the just.
Bermondsey.
Mary Ann Hout, died April 7, 1793,
Aged 4 years and 5 months.
Ah, cease to mourn a sainted spirit gone
To seek its resting-place beyond the skies,
Where, 'midst the glories of the eternal throne,
She tastes celestial bliss that never dies.
Bermondsey.
76 orchard's epitaphs.
Archbald Findlay, died June 18, 1806,
Aged 53 years.
To describe their virtues here Would be a vain
attempt ;
But know, O reader ! they are registered elsewhere.
Bermondsey.
Thomas Windham, Esq. died 1599.
Liv'st thou, Thomas ? Yes. Where? With God on
high.
Art thou not dead ? Yes, and here I lie ;
I that with man on earth did live to die,
Died for to live with Christ eternally.
Felbriggs, Norfolk.
Thomas Nuce, S. T. B.
Here who lies, if you inquire,
'Tis Thomas Nuce his sepulchre,
Vicar of this parish late,
Whose soul enjoys a happy state,
And in fulness shall of time
Re-assume this earthly slime.
By his side now, as in life,
Lies the body of his wife ;
And who, in a number even,
Five sons brought him, daughters seven.
To the world they living died,
So dying, living they abide.
Oxburgb, Norfolk.
orchard's epitaphs. 17
George Courtney, died November 11, 1800, in his
17th year.
Cut off in early bloom of years,
Which caused my parents floods of tears,
A father's darling and a mother's joy,
Now I am blest where none can me annoy.
The blast that nipp'd my youth will conquer thee «
It nips the bud, the blossom, and the tree.
Bermondsey.
Mrs. Sarah Mills, died 1696.
Mrs. Rebecca Ward, died 1702.
Under this stone, in easy slumber lies
Two dusty bodies, that at last shall rise :
Their parted atoms shall again rejoin,
Be cast into new moulds by hands divine,
Caystwich, Norfolk.
Thomas Alleyne, died 1650, and his two Wives.
Death here advantage hath of life, I spy —
One husband with two wives at once may lie.
Witchingham, Norfolk.
Catharine Houbert, died 25th July, 1794, aged 75.
Blame not this monumental stone we raise,
Tis to the Saviour's, not the sinner's praise.
Sin was the whole that she could call her own ;
Her goodness was derived from him alone :
h 3
78 orchard's epitaphs.
To sin her conflicts, pains, and griefs she owed ;
Her conquering faith and patience He bestow'd.
Reader ! mayst thou obtain like precious faith,
To smile in anguish, and rejoice in death.
Bermondsey. Newton.
In the church-yard at Burton Lazars, Leicester-
shire, is a gingerbread tomb, to the memory of Mr.
William Squire, who died in 1781, in the 70th year
of his age : it cost 300/. This man's folly shines ;
he was a weaver, and saved about 600/., half of which
has been expended on the baseless fabric of a vision,
to rob his poor relations. Upon this party-coloured
pile are urns, arms, and leg-bones, tied together with
a cord, hanging pendant from a jaw-bone — 1 had al-
most said of an ass. It abounds with imitations of
skulls, angels, crosses, and glories, &c. &e. He
billed the interest of 50/. to D. Ford and his suc-
cessors, to keep this lump of vanity on its legs.
Happily, the mortmain act has been found useful to
his friends ; they have seized the remainder of his
cash, and consequently its fate is inevitable, — it will
soon be as if it had never been.
Throsby's Leicestershire.
Effects of Drunkenness.
Last week, a woman at Glasgow actually offered
to sell her own living child to a surgeon, telling him
orchard's epitaphs. 79
that he could boil down and make drugs of it. She
asked twenty-five pounds for the poor infant, and
began to strip off its clothes, promising the surgeon
that she would sell him a boy she had at home,
aged twelve years. A police-officer was sent for,
and the wretch was given into custody. Her husband
appeared in the police court, and said that she had
been much given to drink for some time past, and
that she had sold both her own and his clothes, for
money to buy whiskey. She declared she was very
sorry for what she had done, and that she never
would have thought of parting with the child had
she been in her sober senses. Before dismissing
her, the magistrate gave her a severe reprimand : he
said she must be an inhuman wretch to offer to sell
her child for such a purpose, and assured her that
she would be carefully looked after, lest any thing
went wrong with the child.
Nov. 5, 1826.
A woman named Bates has been committed for
trial by the Surrey magistrates, charged with stealing
the corpse of a child belonging to a Mrs. Ketch,
who had intrusted the prisoner to bury it. Bates
contrived to open the box or coffin, on her way to
the church-yard, and took the corpse home, for the
purpose of imposing upon a society for relieving
lying-in women, of whom she received the usual
sum, on pretext that she had been confined, but that
80 orchard's epitaphs.
the infant died. The empty box was put into the
earth by the sexton, who remarked that it was very
light.
Nov. 5, 1826.
Sacred to the memory of Mr. John Campbell
of Poplar, aged 32, who was murdered
and thrown in the Regent's Canal,
near the Ben Jonson, Stepney : his body was
found on 18 June, 1821.
Stepney.
Mary Phipps, died November 4, 1S00,
Aged 18 years.
Adieu, blest shade, alas ! too early fled,
Who knew thee living, must lament thee dead :
A soul so calm, so free from every stain,
So tried by torture, so unmoved by pain,
Without a groan with agony she strove,
Heaven wondering snatch'd her to the joys above.
St. Martin's in the Fields.
Mary Ann Kingsley, died April 3, 1810,
Aged 21 years.
Relentless Death ! and could no effort save,
Grace, beauty, virtue from an early grave ?
And did our infant cherub but appear,
To guide its parent to the celestial sphere.
ORCHARD^ EPITAPHS. 81
And teach my doating heart so soon to know
The husband's and the father's keenest woe ?
But cease my murmurs: Faith discovers skies,
Where truth and loveliness immortal rise,
And where no pain nor sickness can destroy
The cherub's bliss, the angel's spotless joy.
Newington, Surrey.
Alexander Hogg, bookseller,
Died July 1, 1809, aged 57 years.
A husband, father, friend, all three in one,
Nay, what is more, an honest man is gone ;
Not gone for ever, only gone before,
For every honest man to Heaven shall soar ;
That his reward above, below his praise,
Hence, reader, then, and imitate his ways.
St. Paul's Church-yard.
To the memory of
Sir William Jones, Knight,
One of the judges
of the Supreme Court of Judicature
At Fort William, in Bengal,
This statue was erected,
By the Honourable East India Company,
In testimony of their gratitude,
Sense of the public service,
Their admiration of his genius and learning,
82 orchard's epitaphs.
And their respect for his character and virtues.
He died in Bengal, on the 17th April, 1794,
Aged 47 years.
St. Paul's Cathedral.
Erected at the public expense.
To the memory of
George Blagdon Westcoat,
Captain of the Majestic ;
Who, after thii ty-three years of meritorious service,
Fell gloriously,
In the victory obtained over the French fleet,
OfTAboukir, August 1, 1798,
in the 46th year of his age.
St. Paul's Cathedral.
Mary Dunn, died April 22, 1793, aged 22.
All you that read,, think of your future state,
And pray repent before it be too late.
Your time is short, on Jesus Christ rely,
Consider, mortals, what it is to die.
Hackney.
Sarah Fanant Smith, died 2nd May, 1798,
Aged 58 years.
Death can t disjoin whom Christ has join'd in love,
Life leads to death, and death to life above :
Tn Heaven a happier place, frail things despise,
Live well, to gain in future life the prize.
Whitechapel.
orchard's epitaphs. S3
David Nelson, died 24th March, 1812, aged 30.
How would the powers of darkness boast
If but one praying soul was lost !
Tottenham Court Chapel.
Thomas Cooper, died Aug. 23, 1799,
Aged 84 years.
He who benevolence of heart display 'd
The poor to succour, and the friendless aid,
Will from the Almighty Power, we humbly trust,
Meet the reward due to the good and just.
Hackney.
Henry Thomas Bonsor, died Feb. 17, 1810,
Aged 14 years.
He 's gone ! and now his sufferings are o'er,
Nor pain, nor sorrow, can molest him more.
Fourteen sad years he pass'd in hopeless pain,
Physicians' skill and art were tried in vain :
No earthly power could health to him restore.
'Twas God ordain'd ! who can his ways explore ?
By death set free, his panting soul took way
To realms of bliss and everlasting day.
Hackney.
84 orchard's epitaphs.
Elizabeth Holmes, died 13th March, 1808,
Aged 4 years 4 months.
Dear prattling child, to all our hearts full dear,
Long shall we bathe thy mourning with a tear.
Farewell, too promising on earth to dwell,
Sweetest of fondlings, best of babes farewell.
Hackney.
John Stevens, died 6th July, 1811, aged 77.
Slave to no sect, he took no private road,
But look'd through nature up to nature's God.
Hackney.
Elizabeth Hughes, died Dec. 7, 1803, aged 23.
Mild as the morning star her virtues shone,
Eternal wisdom mark'd her for his own.
Her matchless worth cast out of beauty's bloom,
Has left a lasting fragrance on her tomb.
Hackney.
Sacred to the memory of
The Rev. David George Davis,
of this parish,
Who departed this life Jan. 10, 1812, aged 4£ years,
After a long affliction, which he bore
With manly fortitude and steady faith.
If dumb too long the drooping mate hath staid,
And left her debt of sacred love unpaid ;
orchard's epitaphs. 80
Blame not her silence, readers, but bemoan,
And judge, Oh judge my feelings by your own.
To strew fresh laurels let the task be mine,,
A frequent pilgrim at thy sacred shrine ;
Mine, with true sighs thy absence to bemoan,
And 'grave with faithful epitaphs the stone :
Live here on earth, preparing for the skies,
Then at the last great day together rise,
For God forbids the virtuous soul to die,
Though we awhile may here united lie.
Hackney.
Sarah Wrightson, died March 4, 1803,
aged 55 years.
The noblest charms of virtue here do lie,
With all that ample Nature could supply ; —
Why then, O Death, reduce such worth to dust?
'Tis Heaven's high will to pluck the fairest first.
Hackney.
Mira Hodgkins, died Oct. 3, 1803, aged 9.
Dearer than daughter, paralleled by few
In sweetness, patience, suffering, — adieu !
Adieu, my Mira, till that day more blest,
When, if deserving, I with thee shall rest.
Come, then thy sire will cry in joyful strain- —
Oh come to my paternal arms again !
Hackney.
80 orchard's epitaphs.
Harriet Lewis, died 15th May, 1808,
aged 31 years.
Sleep, gentle spirit, peaceful in thy tomb,
Till wak'd to gladness in a world to come ;
Then, meekly bending at the eternal throne,
Receive the plaudit for the good thou 5 st done.
Hampstead.
John Alphonsus Loste, died Nov. 29, 181 1>
aged 85 years.
These were a pair too scarce in modern life —
A husband fond, an ever faithful wife :
Together four and fifty years they trod
The path of rectitude that leads to God •,
Almost together down they sank to rest,
And rise to life immortal with the blest.
Hackney.
William Thomas, died 21 July, 1804, aged 51.
Dear friends, farewell ! at God's command
I summon'd was before his bar to stand.
This sudden stroke of death calls loud on thee
For to prepare yourself to follow me.
Hackney.
orchard's epitaphs. 87
Barbara Thomas, died 14 July, 1805, aged 60.
There are three corpses lie sleeping here, —
The father, mother, and daughter dear ;
Inurn'd in earth they must remain
Till Christ doth call them forth again.
Hackney.
Harry Ruddall, died Feb. 11, 1804, aged 36.
Great God, to thee I humbly bend,
And own thy power divine :
In mercy be the widow's friend,
The orphans, make them thine.
Clerkenwell Burying-ground.
An Epitaph to the memory of the late
Francis Hoggray, who died Dec. 27, 1809,
aged 31 years.
Beneath this stone, by no vain flattery laid,
Repose the ashes of a gentle shade.
Reader, if thou, like him, thy part hast done,
The duty of a brother or a son,
Friendship can wish for thee no better doom
Than such tranquillity as he now feels,
And such a slumber as his spirit seals ;
Till, at the Angel's call, the sleeping dust
Shall join the resurrection of the just.
That was his life, but this his constant plan,
That, while on earth, he lived an honest man.
Paddington.
88 orchard's epitaphs.
John Jackson, died April 12, 1787,
aged 3 years 3 months.
Ah, sweetest child, for heavenly joys design 'd,
Nor left to know the troubles of mankind ;
Though human frailty makes thy parents weep,
Yet thou in innocence dost sweetly sleep :
Thy soul to Paradise is softly fled,
There to await till Christ shall raise the dead.
Then straight to heaven he will thy soul translate ;
All joys to know at once would be too great.
Burying-ground near Foundling Hospital.
Ann Jackson, died Dec. 17, 1805, aged 60.
For ever sacred be the hallow'd dust
Of her who numbers with the good and just,
Of her who sufFer'd with a Christian mind,
In sickness, sorrow, life and death resigned ;
Perform'd each duty, and each trial past,
Who gains, O virtue ! thy reward at last.
J. J. Pratt.
Near Foundling Hospital.
To the memory of the
Rev. Samuel Ayscough, F.S.A.
One of the librarians of the British Museum,
Who died Oct. 30, 1804, in his 60th year.
Shall he, whose tears for suffering virtue flowed,
Whose heart with every social feeling glow'd,
orchard's epitaphs. 89
To friendless want his little all who gave,
Sleep undistinguish'd in th' oblivious grave ?
Though virtue's fame all monuments surpass,
The breathing sculpture and recording brass,
Afflicted friendship, to thy memory just,
Bids this fair tablet shade thy honour'd dust ;
And let a distant age more grateful know
That modest worth and Ayscough rest below.
1. Maurice.
i. d. B.
Erected by two of his Friends.
Near Foundling Hospital.
In memory of
Mr. Thomas Harris, junior,
Late of Hyde Street, Bloomsbury,
Belonging to the
Bloomsbury Inns of Court Association,
Who lost his life in performing a public service
At the dreadful fire at Covent Garden,
Sept. 20, A.D. 1808,
Aged 28 years.
He was a dutiful son,
An affectionate husband, a tender father,
And fell truly lamented by all who knew him.
Thy parents, and each faithful friend,
Lament thy early piteous end ;
With tears bedew thy honour'd grave,
And wish'd and would, but could not save.
90
ORCHARD'S EPITAPHS.
To heav'n their lab'ring bosoms heave,
And hope God will their pains relieve ;
Faith whispers, Virtue's path thou trod,
Heaven's ways are just, and thou 'rt with God.
Near Foundling Hospital.
Ann Errington, died April 15, 1790, aged 41.
She well discharg'd her part thro* life,
As tender mother, friend, and wife ;
And had her merits, as her praise,
Been equall'd by her length of days,
Long would reflecting joys attend
The child, the husband, and the friend.
Hampstead,
Edward Errington, died 19th April 1797,
aged 8 years.
Blest are these, in Jesus dead,
How sweet their slumber, soft their bed ;
Silly are we for them to weep :
They are not dead, but gone to sleep.
Hampstead.
Sarah Bootle, died Oct. 22, 1788, aged 22.
Blest with divine electing love, and grace of God ;
Blest with faith and knowledge in his holy word ;
Blest with humble patience, in long affliction's fire ;
Blest with holy resignation, her soul's desire ;
orchard's epitaphs. 91
Blest with filial love, sincerity and truth ;
Blest with a sympathetic heart, matur'd in youth :
Blest with meek good sense, quick and clear appre-
hension ;
Blest with modest pride, genius and emulation ;
Blest with ready wit, and keen but tender satire ;
Blest with humility, candour, and good-nature ;
Blest with amiable carriage and behaviour ;
Blest now complete with Christ, her God and
Saviour.
Near Foundling Hospital.
Mary Mordaunt Walsh, died Oct. 26, 1808,
in her 19th year.
Each beauteous charm, fair Innocence, was thine,
Each heaven- born grace thy spotless mind
adorn'd.
In thee the Graces did their beauties join ;
All fascination's pow'r in thee was found.
But ah ! how vain each elegance and grace,
When Death's stern mandate issues from on high ;
How vain the charms that deck each beauteous face,
When Heaven's all-powerful edicts bid them die !
Thy mother mourns, and, with an anguish'd soul,
Bedews thy grave with heart-wrung tears.
With thee all joy has fled, — thou wert the «ole,
All bright'ning ray that cheer'd her evening years.
Paddington.
92 orchard's epitaphs.
William Andrews, died Dec. 4, 1809, aged 70.
If ever truth on epitaph was told,
Reader, for truth this character behold :
To act upright was through life his plan ;
He liv'd beloved, and died an honest man.
Paddington.
James Tullock, died Nov. 6, 1796, aged 63.
Not wearied out through length of days,
Nor lingering pains, nor dire disease,
But in the house of God, at prayer,
He unto death fell victim there.
A victim — for who could withstand
His fatal dart, and his stern command !
Hence, Reader, learn prepar'd to be,
Lest unawares Death seize on thee.
Chelsea.
Harriet Groom, died 9th Sept. 1808, aged 22.
Farewell, thou chosen of the Lord, farewell !
Too heavenly, alas, on this frail earth to dwell.
Thine earthly care to trace the path to heav'n,
Thou didst, assured thy sins would be forgiven.
Thy friends, by thy example taught their God to
fear,
Live but in hopes with thee to meet him there.
Chelsea.
orchard's epitaphs. 93
To the memory of
Sir Hans Sloane, Bart.
President of the Royal Society, and the
College of Physicians,
Who in the year of our Lord 1753,
the 92d year of his age,
Without the least pain of body, and with a
conscious serenity of mind,
ended a virtuous and beneficent life,
This monument was erected by his two daughters,
Elizabeth Cadogan, and Sarah Stanley.
Chelsea.
Mary Keene, died May 5, 1809, aged 73.
The grave is rest to suffering virtue given,
And death the transit of the soul to heaven.
Paddington.
In memory of
John Alexander Woodd, aged 22 years,
Who died May 13, 1802,
In consequence of a wound from a fire-work,
on the
night of the General Illumination, April 30.
Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not
what a day may bring forth.
94 orchard's epitaphs.
Short was the race allotted for him to run,
Just entered in the lists, he gained the crown,
And prayer scarce ended ere his praise began.
Paddington.
Ann Reid, died 14th Oct. 1801.
Let virtuous maids, in joy and peace, bestrew
With lovely blossoms this untimely bier.
Here no sad story, marvellous, and new,
Excites compassion, or a painful tear ;
And why ? the soul could scarce contract a stain,
So short its stay in this abode of sin and pain.
Snatched harmless from a tender mother's side,
Her body to the sacred ground is given ;
Free from the tyrant dragon's wrath and pride,
Her infant soul ere now is fled to heaven.
Hampstead.
Mary Yerrall, died 6th Dec. 1808, aged 55.
In remembrance of her singular virtues, her husband
has caused this stone to be erected.
In heaven her soul, in me her love,
Her body resteth here ;
Which is to God, was to the world,
To me her husband dear.
Paddington.
orchard's epitaphs. 95
Stay, passenger, and let thine eyes
Inform thee who here under lies ;
Yet haste, since William Brook is gone,
And left this world ere fifty-one ;
Whose lustre a slow consumption spent,
Wasting a clayey tenement.
It matters not how long we live, but how ;
From second birth a few days are enow.
Norwich.
Robert Brigham, died 14th June, 1685,
Aged 54 years.
In youth I poor and much neglected went,
My grey and wealthy age in mirth I spent ;
To honours then I courted was by many,
Although I did in no wise seek for any.
But what is now that wealth, that mirth, that glow,
Alas 'tis grave, 'tis dust, 'tis mourning now,
Unless my soul, through Christ, a place enjoys,
Where blessed saints with him in God rejoice.
Norwich.
Urith Leverington, died 1660.
The night is come ; for sleep, lo ! here I stay,
My three sweet babes sleep here — we wait for day,
That we may rise, and up to bliss ascend,
Where crowns, and thrones, and robes shall us
attend.
6 ORCHARD'S EPITAPHS.
Thy worst is past, O Death ! thou 'st done thy part,
Thou couldst but kill, we fear no second dart.
Norwich.
William Carnall, died Sept. 11, 1804, aged 42.
Why ali this toil for triumphs of an hour ?
What though we wade in wealth, or soar in fame,
Earth's highest station ends in 'here he lies/
And 'dust to dust' concludes her noblest song.
Rotherhithe.
Priscilla Spurrell, died Dec. 11, 1742, aged 60
years.
'Tis mine to-day to moulder in the tomb,
To-morrow may thy awful summons come.
Thus frail, and sleep secure !— awake ! or know
Thy dreams will terminate in endless woe.
Wake, and contend for heaven's immortal prize,
And give to God each moment as it flies ;
Serene then may'st thou recollect the past,
And with a sacred transport meet the last.
Norwich.
Gabon Crosskill, died 11th May, 1808,
Aged 40 years.
If Britons' safety on their fleets depend,
And brave and skilful men the state defend,
How justly does the realm their loss deplore,
Whene'er by death they fall to rise no more.
orchard's epitaphs. 97
Here's one who, though long trained in humble
station,
Was firm and trusty to his king and nation :
He braved the seas, and each inveterate foe ;
Did many painful conflicts undergo.
Reader, refrain not now the patriot's tear,
An honest British tar lies buried here.
Francis Bouvilla, died June 8, 1799,
Aged 68 years.
Farewell ! the friend to many a friend endear'd,
For worth lamented, and for truth revered,
For every social tie ; while orphans raise
Thy hymn of merit with the voice of praise.
Farewell ! may all thy errors be forgiven.
And all thy virtues find a rest in heaven.
Paddington.
Captain Henry Wilson,
Who died 10th day of May, 1810,
Aged 70 years,
Was interred at Coyton, near Axminster, Devon-
shire.
He commanded the Hon. East India Company's
Packet, the Antelope,
When Shipwrecked on the Pelew Islands,
in the month of August, 1783,
98 orchard's epitaphs.
And was wonderfully preserved, together with all
the ship's company, amongst strangers,
in a land unfrequented, and unknown.
Reader !
Reflect on thy life, and the days that are past, and
thou wilt assuredly see cause to acknowledge that
there is a God that governs the earth, and takes
notice of the ways and actions of men, and that
thou hast had frequent occasion wherein to declare
with the patriarch Jacob, * Surely the Lord is in this
place with us.'
Rotherhithe.
Elizabeth Pars, died September 9, 1795,
Aged 54 years.
Dedicated by Truth, and inscribed by Friendship.
If moral virtue lead to moral good,
And bright example make it understood;
Here read the lesson from departed worth,
So few can teach thee on thy kindred earth :
Her truth unsullied., and her heart sincere,
Religion's compass taught her how to steer,
In every exercise of social love,
The semblance rose to meet her God above.
Go then, and profit by such active zeal,
And present conduct, future bliss shall seal.
Pentonville.
orchard's epitaphs. 99
Thomas Scott, died 12th Nov. 1616, aged 68
years.
This stone, which living, on my mother I
Caused to be laid, now dead, on me doth lie.
So she that quick conceived me in her womb,
Receives me dead, and now becomes my tomb.
Natwold, Norfolk.
John Powl, sometime Innholder,
Died Aug. 4, 1620.
Though Death hath seized on me as his prey,
Yet all must know we have a judgement-day.
Therefore whilst life on earth in you remain,
Praise all your God, who doth your lives maintain,
That after death to glory he may us raise,
Yield to his Majesty, honour, laud, and praise.
Norwich .
Alexander Peckover, Gent.
Died 7th Nov. 1649.
'Twere vain to tell his virtues, when each heart,
Better than stones or words, doth act that part ;
Look here, and learn how mortal is poor man !
When one short moment life and death doth span.
Norwich.
100 orchard's epitaphs.
Mrs. Prudence Brown, died 1725,
Aged 76 years.
Death, which before was nature's bane,
Is turn'd to the believer's sain.
o
Through this dark vale the passage lies,
To robes, and crowns, and blissful skies.
Norwich.
Anna Skedge, died 1739, aged 21 years.
Reader, beneath this monument is laid
The body of a pious, prudent maid,
Whilst her bright soul, above the lofty sky,
Shall dwell in peace and joy eternally.
Then let us not in vain lament her fate,
But her great virtues strive to imitate,
And let her early exit alw r ays be
An earnest admonition unto thee.
Norwich.
Jonathan Lewes, died by a fall from his horse,
April 7, 1704, aged 32 years.
Judge me not, reader, Christ is judge of all,
I fell, stand'st thou ? take warning by my fall ;
Be ready, lest thee sudden death surprise,
And hence two witnesses against thee rise.
Norwich.
ORCHARD S EPITAPHS.
101
Mr. Bryant Lewis,
Who was barbarously murdered upon the Heath near
Thetford, Sept. 13, 1698.
Fifteen wide wounds this stone veils from thine
eyes,
But reader, hark ! their voice doth pierce the skies.
Vengeance, cried Abel's blood, against cursed
Cain,
But better things spake Christ when he was slain.
Both, both cries Lewis's 'gainst his barbarous foe,
Blood, Lord, for blood, but save his soul from woe.
Norwich.
Henry Hall, died 15th Nov. 1723, aged 28.
The phcenix of his time
Lies here but sordid clay ;
His thoughts were most sublime ;
His soul is sprung away.
Then let this grave keep in protection
His ashes until the resurrection.
Norwich.
Captain John Gibbs, died 22d Oct. 1695, aged 48
years.
This narrow space confines his dear remains,
Whose glorious better part survives and reigns ;
Immortal virtues now embalm his name,
And fix him high in the great list of fame.
102 orchard's epitaphs.
The generous friendship that adorn'd his mind,
Was boundless as the needs of human kind ;
But where relations did the band endear,
The rays contracted, did more warm appear.
So good a husband, father, brother, son,
As few have equall'd, none have e'er outdone ;
Such charity through his whole life was shown,
As made the wants of others seem his own.
His soul so truly brave he knew no fear ;
E'en death itself made no impression there.
Tis true he yielded, but Death lost the prize,
For he but stoop'd that he might rise.
Attleburgh, Norfolk.*
John Johnson, Watchmaker,
Died 27th June, 1800, aged 43 years.
For honest worth let friendship drop a tear,
Who knew him best, lament him most sincere ;
In all his actions, generous, just, and kind,
His regulator was a virtuous mind ;
Strict in his morals, in his manners mild,
A better man, look far, you will not find.
Hampstead.
* Mr. Le Neve says, * Captain Gibbs was a great gamester
and horse-racer in King Charles the Second's time. He laid
a wager of 500/. that he drove his light chaise and four horses
up and down the deepest place of the Devil's Ditch, on New-
market Heath, which he performed, by making a very light
chaise, with a jointed perch, and without any pole, to the
surprise of all the spectators.'
orchard's epitaphs. 103
Mary Atkinson, died Jan. 1, 1786, aged 77.
Periwinkles ! periwinkles !
Was ever her cry ;
She labour'd to live,
Poor and honest to die.
At the last day again
How her old eyes will twinkle ;
For no more will she cry
Periwinkle ! periwinkle !
Ye rich, be virtuous ; want regard pray give ;
Ye poor, by her example, learn to live.
Brighton.
1779.
The hour conceal'd, and so remote the fear,
Death still draws nearer, never seeming near.
Brighton.
P. Mead, died May 15, 1795, aged 75 years.
Submit thy fate to Heaven's indulgent care,
Though all seems lost, 'tis impious to despair.
The tracks of Providence, like rivers wind ;
Here run before us, there retreat behind.
And though immerg'd in earth from human eyes,
Again break forth, and more conspicuous rise.
May his soul rest in peace !
Paddington.
INDEX.
Allayne, John
Alleyne, Thomas
Amys, Thomas
Andrews, William
Armitage, Joseph
Ashby, Thomas
Atkinson, Mary
Ayscough, Rev. Samuel
Bacon, William
Bates
Bedford, Jonathan
Birde, John.
Boardman, John
Bolgida, Marquis de . . .
Bonsor, Henry Thomas.
Bootle, Sarah ,
Boss, Mary
Bouvilla, Francis ,
Bowden, Edward
Bowen, Matilda
Box, Simon
Branthwaite, Miles
Brigham, Robert
Brighton, Epitaph at ... .
Brook, William
Brooke, James
Brown, James
Jeffery
Mrs. Prudence . .
— — — Susan
Bulman, George
Campbell, John
Cardmaker, Epitaph on a
Carlos, William
Carnall, William
Carrail, John
Caster, John
Castle, Thomas
Cave, Isabella
66
79
37
35
28
73
83
90
59
97
31
41
21
32
95
103
95
10
53
39
100
60
56
Fags Page
70 Charles 1 30
77 Churchill, Patience 34
44 Clark, Rev. Mr 72
92 Clements, Anne e 31
55 Clobury, Elizabeth .... 63
24 Cock, Samuel 41
103 Colby, Sir Thomas 25
Golfer, Edward 65
Collins, William 1
Colvile, Sarah ... 20
Cooper, Thomas 83
Courten, William 26
Courtney, George 77
Cross, Elizabeth 40
Crossfield, Dr. R. T 49
Crosskill, Gabon 96
Cumberland, Earl of ... . 4
Cutting, William 67
Danvers, Sir Joseph .... 63
Davis, Rev. D. G 84
Deakin, Francis 51
Dowe, John 35
Doyley, Martha 64
Drunkenness, Effects of. . 78
Dunn, Mary 82
Earsby, William 17
Edwards, Mary 70
Errington, Ann 90
Edward 90
Fairney, Hugh 33
Fawcett, Henry 22
Findlay, Archbald 71
Fox, Francis 69
Freeman, Dr. Stephen .. 91
Fullock, James 92
80
74
16
96
67
38
46 (Gaudy, Sir Anthony .. .. 48
26 Gibbs, Capt. John ." 101
INDEX.
105
Page
Glazier, Oaa 58
Graves, Capt. Henry .... 69
Groom, Harriet 92
Haigh, Mary 54
Hall, Henry 101
John 24
Hammond, Robert .... 34
Hancock Family 7
Harborne, William .... 53
Harden, Ann 9
Hare, Hugh 28
Sir Thomas 27
Hargrave, Cornelius .... 66
Harris, Thomas, jun.. .. . 89
Hawkes, Thomas 56
Heming, Thomas 35
Herd, John 13
Hibbert, John 36
Hill, Elizabeth . . 67
Mary 71
Hiseland, William 21
Hobart, Sir Miles 63
Hodgkins, Mira 85
Hogg, Alexander 81
Hoggray, Francis 87
Holmes, Elizabeth .... 84
Houbert, Catherine .... 77
Hout, iMary Anne 75
Howard, Matthew 6
Hughes, Elizabeth 84
Hull, Thomus 54
Humphriss, Mary Ana . . 104
Kemp, Robert
Kett, John
King, Elizabeth
John
Kingsley, Mary Ann
Lady, On a Young
Lady's Tombstone, On a
Langford, Mr
Law, Sarah
Lawrence, Sir John . . . •
Legge, Dr. Thomas ....
Lestrange, Hammond . .
Leverington, Urith ....
Lewes, Jonathan
Lewis, Bryant
Harriet
Loftus, John
Long, Sarah
Longley, John
Loste, John Alphonsus . .
Luffe, Mrs
Jackson, Ann .
John ,
Mary
88
88
42
Jenkinson, Joseph 68
Jervoise, Richard 19
Johnson, John 102
Jones, Robert 18
• Sir William 81
Joyce, William 44
Irving, John 65
Izzard, Joseph 71
Keene, Mary 93
M'Bride
Marlphant, William . . .
Marr Family
Mason, John and E. . . .
Maxwell, W. P. L
Maymott, Elizabeth . . .
Mayne, John
Mead,P ,„.
Meadows, Wm. Evelyn.
Miller's Tomb
Mordaunt, Sir Charles .
Moreton, Edward
Morris, John
Mortimer, Martha
Negus, Mary
Nelson, David ....
Newman, Abraham
Nuce, Thomas . . . .
Paleologus, Theodore.
Palin, William
Pars, Elizabeth
Peckover, Alexander .
L
62
35
61
59
80
11
58
57
68
20
23
43
95
100
101
86
59
40
8
86
4
31
59
12
56
18
45
42
103
24
36
52
56
57
70
55
83
22
76
3
75
98
99
106
INDEX.
Page
Peg 69
Pennant, John 19
Penny, John 10
Phippen, Owen Penals . . 2
Phipps, Mary 80
Fowl, John 99
Price, Richard 17
Prince, Rev. Thomas. .. . 58
Purford 74
Rand, John 32
Rant, Robert 7
Reid, Ann 94
Rench, Nathaniel 18
Reynolds, John 68
Ridley, Elizabeth 8
Robinson, Susanna .... 43
Rogers, Henry 60
Roscow, Anne 33
Rose, Dr. William 49
Ruddall, Harry 87
Rush, Montague 19
Salter, William 48
Saviour's, St., Bodies dis-
covered at 29
Scargill, Sarah 40
Scott, Thomas 99
Selby, Elizabeth 75
Sellars, Ann 6
Selway, Mary Maria .... 8
Seymour, Jane 47
Shelford, Leonard ...... 35
Simpson, George 6
Sirdcfieid, Mary 45
Skedge, Anna 100
Sloane, Sir Hans 93
Smith, Fanny 28
Mary 68
Sarah Fanant .... 82
Smyth, William ...... 66
Southey, Epitaph^at .... 27
Sparrow, Edward Thomas 38
Spiiler, William 46
Spurrell, Prisciila 96
Page
Squire, William 78
Stark, Baroness de 16
Stephenson, Joseph .... 26
Stevens, John 84
Sutton, Robert 44
Sym, John 53
William «.. 53
Tattersell, Capt. Nicholas 3
Testar, James . . . „ 51
Thomas, Barbara ...... 87
.. Mary Charlotte 104
William 86
Thompson, John Ayton . 50
Thornton, Bonnel George 52
Thurston, Hammond. ... 36
Tillbrook, Ann 104
Tilly, Mr 3
Timperley, Nicholas .... 46
William 74
Trye, Charles Henry «... 47
Tudor, Martha 72
Wade, R.andG. ...... 49
Walsh, Mary Mordaunt. . 91
Walter, Sarah 72
Wanley, Mary 39
Ward, Sarah and Rebecca 77
Watson, Edward 32
Weedon, Robert 64
West, Dr. Thomas 57
Westcoat, Capt 82
Wesminston, Epitaph at . 11
White, George, jun 72
Whitehead, Paul 55
Williamson Family .... 12
Willoughby, Katharine . . 64
Wilson, Mr 15
Capt. Henry 97
Windham, Thomas .... 76
Wood, Alexander 93
Wrightson, Sarah 8^
Wrixon, Henrietta 52
Yerrall, Mary 94
Printed by S. and R. B«ntley, Dorset Street, London.
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