Colonel Roger Townshend.—Here is a sarcophagus, supported by two Indians, on the front of which is represented in bas-relief, the fall of this great commander, with his officers attending him in his dying moments. This monument is decorated with military trophies, and beneath is the following inscription.—“This monument was erected by a disconsolate parent, the Lady Vicountess Townshend, to the memory of her fifth son, the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Townshend, who was killed by a cannon-ball, July 25, 1759, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, as he was reconnoitring the French lines at Ticonderagoe, in North America. From the parent, the brother, and the friend, his social and amiable manners, his enterprising bravery, and the integrity of his heart, may claim the tribute of affection. Yet, stranger, weep not! for though premature his death, his life was glorious, enrolling him with the names of those immortal Statesmen and Commanders, whose wisdom and intrepidity, in the course of this comprehensive and successful war, have extended the commerce, enlarged the dominion, and upheld the majesty of these kingdoms, beyond the idea of any former age.”—Eckstein, sculptor.
Above is a tablet to Mrs. Bridget Radley, wife of Charles Radley, Esq., Gentleman Usher and Daily Waiter of James II., who erected this monument to her memory. She died November 20, 1769.
A monument to Sir John Chardin, Bart., and is very emblematical, alluding to the travels of this gentleman, by which, as his motto expresses, “he acquired his fame.” The globe, round which a number of geographical instruments are represented, exhibits a view of the different countries through which he travelled; and the motto beneath refers to the dangers he providentially escaped, for which he ascribes to God the glory. A journal of his travels into the Eastern countries he has published—a book in high esteem.—Henry Cheere, sculptor.
Beneath is a monument with this inscription:—“Sacred to the immortal memory of Sir Palmes Fairborne, Knight, Governor of Tangier, in the execution of which command he was mortally wounded by a shot from the Moors then besieging the town, in the forty-sixth year of his age, October 24, 1680.” The following is the epitaph, written by Mr. Dryden:—
“Ye sacred reliques which our marble keep
Here, undisturb’d by wars, in quiet sleep,
Discharge the trust which (when it was below)
Fairborne’s undaunted soul did undergo,
And be the town’s Palladium from the foe!
Alive and dead, these walls he did defend:
Great actions great examples must attend.
The Candian siege his early value knew,
Where Turkish blood did his young hands imbrue;
From thence returning, with deserv’d applause,
Against the Moors his well-flesh’d sword he draws,
The same the courage, and the same the cause.
His youth and age, his life and death combine,
As in some great and regular design,
All of a piece throughout, and all divine.
Still nearer heaven, his virtues shone more bright:
Like rising flames expanding in their height,
The martyr’s glory crowns the soldier’s flight.
More bravely British Gen’ral never fell,
Nor Gen’ral’s death was e’er reveng’d so well,
Which his pleas’d eyes beheld before their close,
Follow’d by thousand victims of his foes.
To his lamented loss, for times to come,
His pious widow consecrates this tomb.”
On a lofty dome is the deceased’s arms, with this motto, “Tutis si Fortis.” Over it a Turk’s head on a dagger, by way of crest, which he won by his valour in fighting against that people in the German war.—Bushnall, sculptor.
Major Andre.—On a moulded panelled base and plinth stands a sarcophagus, on the panel of which is inscribed:—“Sacred to the memory of Major John André, who, raised by his merit, at an early period of life, to the rank of Adjutant-General of the British Forces in America, and employed in an important, but hazardous enterprise, fell a sacrifice to his zeal for his King and country, on the 2nd October, 1780, aged twenty-nine, universally beloved and esteemed by the army in which he served, and lamented even by his foes. His gracious Sovereign, King George III., has caused this monument to be erected;” and on the plinth—“The remains of the said Major André were deposited on the 28th November, 1821, in a grave near this monument.” This is the third head now placed on General Washington’s figure; several others are new, the originals, being so well executed, were too great a temptation for the curious pilferer to withstand. The projecting figures: one of them (with a flag of truce) is presenting to General Washington a letter, which André had addressed to his Excellency the night previous to his execution, worded thus:—“Sir, buoyed above the terror of death, by the consciousness of a life devoted to honourable purposes, and stained with no action which can give me remorse, I trust that the request which I make to your Excellency at this serious period, and which is to soften my last moments, will not be rejected; sympathy towards a soldier will surely induce your Excellency, and a military tribunal, to adapt the mode of my death to the feelings of a man of honour; let me hope, Sir, that if aught in my character impresses you with esteem towards me,—if aught in my misfortunes mark me as the victim of policy and not of resentment,—I shall experience the operations of those feelings in your breast, by being informed I am not to die on a gibbet. I have the honour to be, your Excellency, John André, Adjutant of the British Forces in America.”—Van Gelder, sculptor.
Against the organ gallery is the monument to Thomas Thynne, Esq.—The principal figure is represented in a dying posture, and at his feet a cherub weeping. It has this inscription:—“Thomas Thynne, of Longleate, in Co. Wilts, Esq., who was barbarously murdered on Sunday, the 12th February, 1682;” which murder was conspired by Count Koningsmarck, and executed by three assassins, hired for that purpose, who shot him in Pall-Mall, in his own coach. The motive was to obtain the rich heiress of Northumberland in marriage, who, in her infancy, had been betrothed to the Earl of Ogle, but left a widow, and afterwards married to Mr. Thynne.—Quellin, sculptor.
Opposite, is a tablet of fine marble to General Strode, decorated with military trophies, and bearing this inscription:—“Near this place lie the remains of William Strode, Esq., Lieutenant-General of his Majesty’s Forces, and Colonel of the sixty-second Regiment of Foot. He departed this life, January 14, 1776, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, who constantly attended his duty both at home and abroad, during a course of sixty years’ service. He was a strenuous asserter of both civil and religious liberty, as established at the glorious Revolution of William III. Military reader! go thou and do likewise.”—Hayward, sculptor.
Above is a tablet to Captain William Julius, who commanded the Colchester man-of-war, and died Oct. 3, 1698, aged thirty-three.