A SOUNDING NAME.
Can any one throw light upon an inscription in Elmley Castle churchyard, which records the death of John Chapman, whose name, it is said, "sounds in (or throughout) the world?" The following is the inscription:
"Memoriæ defunctorum sacrum. Και Τυφωνια
"Siste gradum, viator, ac lege. In spe beatæ resurrectionis hic requiescunt exuviæ Johannis Chapmanni et Isabellæ uxoris, filiæ Gulielmi Allen de Wightford, in comitat. War. Ab antiquo proavorum stemmate deduxerunt genus. Variis miserarium agitati procellis ab strenue succumbentis in arrescenti juventutis æstate, piè ac peccatorum pœnitentia expirabant animas.
"Maij 10 die Anno Dom. 1677.
"Sistite Pierides Chapmannum plangere, cujus
"Spiritus in cœlis, nomen in orbe sonat."
A correspondent observes—"Sir, I know the Elmley Castle epitaph that has astonished you, and I am rather surprised you havn't bottomed it. Why it's transparent as crystal, and is simply a verdant try-on at a pun. 'Nomen in orbe sonat,' says Mr. Chapman's epitaph—and right enough too; for what other name does so sound over the world as Chapman's? 'Dealer and Chapman' is the generic designation of the vendors of commodities from pole to pole, and so the mystery fadeth."