Thomas Hollis, of England, born in London in 1720, and one of the early patrons of Harvard College, in his memoirs, states:[[15]]
The following Epitaph is often seen pasted up in the houses in North America. It throws some light upon the principles of the people, and may in some measure account for the asperity of the war carrying on against them. The original is engraved upon a cannon at the summit of a steep hill near Martha Bray [Bay] in Jamaica:
STRANGER
Ere thou pass, contemplate this cannon,
Nor regardless be told
That near its base lies deposited the dust
Of John Bradshaw;
Who, nobly superior to selfish regards,
Despising alike the pageantry of courtly splendor,
The blast of calumny,