SELF-WRITTEN.
MATTHEW PRIOR’S.
Painters and heralds, by your leave,
Here lie the bones of Matthew Prior,
The son of Adam and of Eve:—
Let Bourbon or Nassau go higher!
It is said (and the statement appears highly probable) that Prior borrowed his lines from the following very ancient epitaph upon a tombstone in Scotland:—
John Carnagie lies here,
Descended from Adam and Eve;
If any can boast of a pedigree higher,
He will willingly give them leave.
COLERIDGE’S.
Stop, Christian passer-by! stop, child of God,
And read with gentle heart. Beneath this sod
A poet lies, or that which once seemed he:—
O lift a thought in prayer for S. T. C.,
That he, who many a year with toil of breath
Found death in life, may here find life in death;
Mercy for praise, to be forgiven for fame,
He asked, and hoped through Christ. Do thou the same!
JOHN BACON’S, TOTTENHAM COURT CHAPEL.
What I was as an Artist
Seemed to me of some importance
while I lived;
But what I really was as a believer
in Christ Jesus,
is the only thing of importance
to me now.
DR. COOPER’S, EDINBURGH.
Here lies a priest of English blood,
Who, living, liked whate’er was good,—
Good company, good wine, good name,
Yet never hunted after fame;
But as the first he still preferred,
So here he chose to be interred,
And, unobscured, from crowds withdrew
To rest among a chosen few,
In humble hopes that sovereign love
Will raise him to be blest above.
POPE ADRIAN’S.
Adrianus, Papa VI., hic situs est, que nihil sibi
Infelicius in vita, quam quod imperaret duxit.
SHEIL’S, (THE IRISH ORATOR).
Here lie I. There’s an end to my woes.
And my spirit at length at aise is,
With the tip of my nose, and the ends of my toes,
Turned up ’gainst the roots of the daisies.
The eccentric Sternhold Oakes offered a reward for the best epitaph for his grave. Several tried for the prize, but they flattered him too much, he thought. At last he undertook it himself; and the following was the result:—
Here lies the body of Sternhold Oakes,
Who lived and died like other folks.
That was satisfactory, and the old gentleman claimed the prize, which, as he had the paying of it, was of course allowed.