Beloved and honored for his kindly heart;
Zealous in prayer, in duty prompt and true;
With guileless life, and firm and holy faith,
The peaceful tenour of his life passed on;
The Sexton of the parish, his white hairs
Were reverenced by the simple pious flock,
To whom his services were duly paid,
Save by some graceless ones, who long had made
The kind old man the butt of many a joke;
But, as we often mark, the wicked jest