CURIOUS AND PUZZLING EPITAPHS.

On the monument of Sardanapalus was inscribed, in Assyrian characters,—

ΕΣΤΗΙΕ, ΠΙΝΕ, ΠΑΙΖΕ. ὩΣ ΤΑΛΛΑ ΤΟΥΤΟΥ ΟΥΚ ΑΞΙΑ

EAT, DRINK, BE MERRY. THE REST IS NOT WORTH THAT!

meaning a snap of the fingers, which is represented by a hand engraved on the stone, with the thumb and middle finger meeting at the top. Casaubon translates παιζειν, to love (παιζειν nihil aliud significat nisi ερᾶν). Solomon said, all is vanity, but not till he had eaten, drunk, and loved to a surfeit; and Swift left the well-known lines,—

Life’s a farce, and all things show it,

I thought so once, but now I know it,—

but this information was for the tomb, when the capacity to eat, drink, and love was gone.

At the entrance of the church of San Salvador, in the city of Oviedo, in Spain, is a remarkable tomb, erected by a prince named Silo, with a very curious Latin inscription, which may be read two hundred and seventy ways, by beginning with the capital S in the centre:—

Silo Princeps Fecit.

T I C E F S P E C N C E P S F E C I T

I O E F S P E C N I N C E P S F E C I

C E F S P E C N I R I N C E P C F E C

E F S P E C N I R P R I N C E P S F E

F S P E C N I R P O P R I N C E P S F

S P E C N I R P O L O P R I N C E P S

P E C N I R P O L I L O P R I N C E P

E C N I R P O L I S I L O P R I N C E

P E C N I R P O L I L O P R I N C E P

S P E C N I R P O L O P R I N C E P S

F S P E C N I R P O P R I N C E P S F

E F S P E C N I R P R I N C E P S F E

C E F S P E C N I R I N C E P S F E C

I C E F S P E C N I N C E P S F E C I

T I C E F S P E C N C E P S F E C I T

On the tomb are inscribed these letters:—

H. S. E. S. S. T. T. L.

Which are the initials of the following Latin words:—

Hic situs est Silo, sit tibi terra levis.

[Here lies Silo. May the earth lie lightly upon him.]

FROM ST. AGNES’, LONDON.

Qu an tris di c vul stra

os guis ti ro um nere vit.

H san chris mi t mu la

The middle line furnishes the terminal letters or syllables of the words in the upper and lower lines, and when added they read thus:—

Quos anguis tristi diro cum vulnere stravit

Hos sanguis Christi miro tum munere lavit.

[Those who have felt the serpent’s venomed wound

In Christ’s miraculous blood have healing found.]

FROM A CHURCHYARD IN GERMANY.

O quid tua te

be bis bia abit

ra ra ra

es

et in

ram ram ram

i i

Mox eris quod ego nunc.

Taking the position of the words in the first line, which are placed above or over (super) those in the second, and noting the repetition of the syllables ra and ram thrice (ter), and the letter i twice (bis), the reading is easy.

O superbe quid superbis? tua superbia te superabit. Terra es et in terram ibis. Mox eris quod ego nunc.

FROM CUNWALLOW CHURCHYARD, CORNWALL.

(May be read backwards or forwards, up or down.)

Shall we all die?

We shall die all,

All die shall we,—

Die all we shall.

FROM LAVENHAM CHURCH, NORFOLK, ENG.

John Weles, ob. 1694.

Quod fuit esse, quod est;

Quod non fuit esse, quod esse;

Esse quod est, non est;

Quod non est, hoc erit esse.

[What was existence, is that which lies here; that which was not existence, is that which is existence; to be what is now is not to be; that which is now, is not existence, but will be hereafter.]

Or thus:—

That which a being was, what is it? show;

That being which it was, it is not now;

To be what is, is not to be, you see;

That which now is not shall a being be.

ON THE MONUMENT OF JOHN OF DONCASTER, 1579.

Habeo, dedi quod alteri;

Habuique quod, dedi mihi;

Sed quod reliqui, perdidi.

[What I gave, I have;

What I spent, I had;

What I saved, I lost.]

IN THE CHURCHYARD OF LLANGERRIG, MONTGOMERYSHIRE.

OEarthOEarthobserve this well,—
Thattoshall come to dwell;
Theninshall close remain,
Tillfromshall rise again.

IN HADLEY CHURCHYARD, SUFFOLK.

The charnel mounted on the wALL.
Sets to be seen in funer
A matron plain domestic
In care and pain continu
Not slow, not gay, not prodig
Yet neighborly and hospit
Her children seven, yet living
Her sixty-seventh year hence did c
To rest her body natur
In hopes to rise spiritu

WRITTEN IN 1748.

Ye witty mortals, as you’re passing by,

Remark that near this monument doth lie,

Centered in dust,

Two husbands, two wives,

Two sisters, two brothers,

Two fathers, a son,

Two daughters, two mothers,

A grandfather, grandmother, and a granddaughter,

An uncle, an aunt, and their niece followed after.

This catalogue of persons mentioned here

Was only five, and all from incest clear.

IN ST. PAUL’S, DEPTFORD.

Rev. Dr. Conyers expired immediately after the delivery of a sermon from the text, “Ye shall see my face no more,” æt. 62, 1786.

Sent by their Lord on purposes of grace,

Thus angels do his will, and see his face;

With outspread wings they stand, prepared to soar,

Declare their message, and are seen no more.

Underneath is a Latin inscription, of which the following is a translation:—

I have sinned,

I repented,                  I believed,

I have loved,                I rest,

I shall rise again,

And by the grace of Christ,

However unworthy,

I shall reign.