I confess I love these associations dearly, and it would be hard indeed to give them up. But will they ever cling around our cemeteries? I think not.
On the other hand, many very curious notions have arisen in connection with this subject—notions as groundless as they are quaint. I will mention three only, which are illustrated by the two following epitaphs, the first of which is from St. Olave’s, Jewry, and the second from Bermondsey, as quoted by Maitland:—
1. “Under this Tomb, the sacred Ashes hold,
The drossie Part of more celestiall Gold;
The Body of a Man, a Man of Men,
Whose worth to write at large, would loose my Pen.
Then do thy worst, Death, glut thyself with Dust,
The precious Soul is mounted to the Just.
Yet, Reader, when thou read’st, both read and weep,
That Men so good, so grave, so wise, do sleep.”