EPITAPH AND MONUMENTS IN WINGFIELD CHURCH, SUFFOLK.
I am not aware if the following epitaph has yet appeared in print; but I can safely assert that it really has a sepulchral origin; unlike those whose doubtful character causes them to be placed by your correspondent Mr. Shirley Hibberd among the "gigantic gooseberries" ("N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 190.). I copied it myself from a gravestone in the churchyard of the village of Wingfield, Suffolk. After the name, &c. of the deceased is the following verse:
"Pope boldly says (some think the maxim odd),
'An honest man's the noblest work of God;'
If Pope's assertion be from error clear,
The noblest work of God lies buried here."
Wingfield Church itself is an interesting old place, but has been a good deal mauled in times past; and the brasses, of which there were once several, are all gone. It is, I believe, a good deal noted for a parvise, or room over the porch, from which, by an opening in the wall, a view of the altar is obtained. There are two or three piscinas in different parts of the church, and a sedilla near the altar. The most interesting objects are, however, three altar tombs, with recumbent figures of the Earls of Suffolk; the earliest, which is of wood, representing either the first or second peer of the family, with his spouse. The next in date is that of the celebrated noble who figures in Shakspeare's Henry VI. The monument is, if I recollect right, of alabaster. The figure is attired in complete armour, and was originally painted; a good deal of the colour still remaining. This and the following monument are partly let into the wall, and are surmounted by beautiful Gothic canopies. The third is, I believe, also of alabaster, and is the effigy of (I think) the nephew of Margaret of Anjou's earl, and who lies by the side of his wife, one of Edward IV.'s family.
It is very likely that all I have been writing is no news to any one. In that case I have but to ask your pardon for troubling you with such a worthless Note.
Pictor.