Barbara was examining a very old stone. "Listen," said she,—
"The spider's most attenuated thread
Is cord, is cable to man's tender tie."
As we made our way along the paths beside the family lots of the Bradfords, Cottons, Harlows, LeBarons, and Howlands, we began to notice how the wording varied with the relative age of the stones. For example, "Edward Gray, Gent." is older style than "Josiah Cotton, Esq." And "That Virtuous Woman, Mrs. Rebecca Turner" is of an earlier period than "Mary, Relict of Deac. Lot Harlow."
We found one very stately epitaph to a young wife, the simplest expression of the language of bereavement: "By this event a husband was deprived of his best friend."
Far more elaborate is the tribute to Mrs. Lucy Hammatt, Relict of the late Capt. Abraham Hammatt. Still clear and definite, the inscription, deeply lettered on the face of the worn slab, records the ideals of an exemplary life:—
Composed in suffering, in joy sedate,
Good without show, for just discernment great.
But Barbara's favorite among the epitaphs was one on the stone of a young Southern bride:--
Phebe J. Bramhall
a Native of Virginia
and Wife of Benj. Bramhall
Possess'd of an Amiable Disposition