Edmund Spencer.—Beneath Mr. Butler’s, there was a rough decayed tomb of Purbeck stone, to the memory of Mr. Edmund Spencer, one of the best English poets, which being much decayed, a subscription was set on foot, by the liberality of Mr. Mason, in 1778, to restore it. The subscription succeeded, and the monument was restored as nearly as possible to the old form, but in statuary marble. His works abound with innumerable beauties and such a variety of imagery, as is scarce to be found in any other writer, ancient or modern. On this monument is this inscription:—“Here lies (expecting the second coming of our Saviour Christ Jesus) the body of Edmund Spencer, the Prince of Poets in his time, whose divine spirit needs no other witness than the works which he left behind him. He was born in London in 1553, and died in 1598.”
Ben Jonson.—This monument is of fine marble, and is very neatly ornamented with emblematical figures, alluding, perhaps, to the malice and envy of his contemporaries. His epitaph—“O Rare Ben Jonson!”—is cut in the pavement where he is buried in the North Aisle. He was Poet Laureate to James I., and contemporary with Shakspeare, to whose writings, when living, he was no friend, though, when dead, he wrote a Poem prefixed to his Plays, which does him the amplest justice. His father was a clergyman, and he was educated at Westminster School while Mr. Carden was Master; but after his father’s death, his mother marrying a bricklayer, he was forced from school, and made to lay bricks. There is a story told of him, that at the building of Lincoln’s Inn, he worked with his trowel in one hand, and Horace in the other; but Mr. Carden, regarding his parts, recommended him to Sir Walter Raleigh, whose son he attended in his travels, and upon his return entered himself at Cambridge. He died the 16th of August, 1637, aged sixty-three.—Rysbrack, sculptor.
On the left is a monument to Michael Draiton. The inscription and epitaph were formerly in letters of gold, but now almost obliterated, and therefore are here preserved:—“Michael Draiton, Esq., a memorable Poet of his age, exchanged his laurel for a Crown of Glory, anno 1631.
“Do, pious marble, let thy readers know
What they, and what their children, owe
To Draiton’s name, whose sacred dust
We recommend unto thy trust:
Protect his mem’ry, and preserve his story;
Remain a lasting monument of his glory;
And when thy ruins shall disclaim
To be the treasure of his name,
His name, that cannot fade, shall be
An everlasting monument to thee.”
This gentleman was both an excellent poet and a learned antiquarian.
Over the monument to Ben Jonson is a window given by Dr. Rogers; it represents David and St. John, the poets of the Old and New Testaments.—Clayton and Bell.
Barton Booth, Esq., elegantly designed and well executed. His bust is placed between two cherubs, one holding a wreath over his head in the act of crowning him: the other in a very pensive attitude, holding a scroll, on which is inscribed his descent from an ancient family in Lancashire, his admission into Westminster School, under Dr. Busby, his qualifications as an actor, which procured him both the royal patronage and the public applause. He died in 1733, in the fifty-fourth year of his age; and this monument was erected by his surviving widow in 1772.—W. Tyler, sculptor.
Mr. John Phillips.—The bust of this gentleman, in relief, is here represented as in an arbour interwoven with laurel branches and apple trees; and over it is this motto—“Honos erat huic quoque Pomo;” alluding to the high qualities ascribed to the apple, in that excellent poem of his called Cider. He was son of Stephen Phillips, D.D., Archdeacon of Salop; was born at Bampton, in Oxfordshire, December 30, 1676, and died at Hereford, Feb. 15, 1708, of a consumption, in the prime of life.
Geoffrey Chaucer.—This has been a very beautiful monument in the Gothic style, but is now much defaced, and is generally passed over with a superficial glance, except by those who never suffer anything curious to escape their notice. Geoffrey Chaucer, to whose name it is sacred, is called the Father of English Poets, and flourished in the fourteenth century. He was son of Sir John Chaucer, a citizen of London, and employed by Edward III. in negociations abroad relating to trade. He was a great favourite at court, and married the great John of Gaunt’s wife’s sister. He was born in 1328, and died Oct. 25, 1400. This monument was erected by Nicholas Bingham, of Oxford, in 1556.