From Thomas Tyrwhitt, Esq. to Mr. James Perry, Morning Chronicle office, Strand.

“Carlton House, Feb. 12th, 1805.

“Dear Sir,—Do pray at your convenience inform me of the address of Mr. Porson, as some papers have been found in the collection of the late Sir William Hamilton respecting the Papiri, which are very interesting; and several MSS so clearly written out, as to be ready for the opinion of Mr. Porson, the only person in my opinion fit to inspect them in the whole kingdom.

Your very faithful and obedient servant,

THOMAS TYRWHITT.”

HISTORY OF SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS.

In the early ages of Christianity the honour of being deposited within the walls of the church was reserved to martyrs; and it was the request of the emperor Constantine in imitation of this holy mode of interment, that after his death, his remains might be allowed to lie in the porch of the basilica of the Apostles, which he himself had erected in Constantinople. Hence the eloquent Chrysostom, when speaking of the triumphs of Christianity, exultingly observes, in allusion to this circumstance, that the Cæsars, subdued by the humble fishermen whom they had persecuted, now appeared as suppliants before them, and gloried in occupying the place of porters at the doors of their sepulchres. Bishops and priests distinguished by their learning, zeal, and sanctity, were gradually permitted to share the honours of the martyrs, and to repose with them within the sanctuary itself. A pious wish in some to be deposited in the neighbourhood of such holy persons, and to rest under the shadow of the altars; in others an absurd love of distinction even beyond the grave; to which may be added, that the clergy, by making such a distinction expensive, rendered it enviable; so that by degrees, all the wholesome restrictions of antiquity were broken through, and at length the noblest public edifices, the temples of the Eternal, the seats of holiness and purity, were converted into so many dormitories of the dead.

Our present business is to investigate the antiquity and variety of sepulchral monuments, which have been erected as memorials of the illustrious dead, in the cathedral, conventual, and parish churches of this island. During the time of our Saxon ancestors, it is probable, that few or no monuments of this kind were erected; at least, being usually placed in the churches belonging to the greater abbeys, they felt the stroke of the general dissolution, and it is believed there are now scarcely any extant. Those we meet with for the kings of that race, such as Ina at Wells;[[59]] Osric, at Gloucester; Sebba and Ethelbert, which were in Old St. Paul’s, or where-ever else they may occur, are undoubtedly cenotaphs, erected in later ages by the several abbeys and convents of which these royal personages were the founders, in gratitude to such generous benefactors.

The period immediately after the conquest was not a time for people to think of such memorials for themselves, or friends. Few could then tell how long the lands they enjoyed would remain their own; and most indeed were put into the hands of new possessors, who, frequently, as we find in Domesday Book, held thirty or forty manors, or more, at a time. All then above the degree of servants, were soldiers, the sword alone made the gentleman, and accordingly on a strict inquiry, we shall meet with few or no monuments of that age, except for the kings, royal family, or some few of the chief nobility and leaders, among which, those for the Veres, Earls of Oxford, at Earl’s Colne, in Essex, are some of the most ancient. It is probable that this state of things, so far as regards sepulchral monuments, continued through the troublesome reign of Stephen, and during the confusion which prevailed while the barons’ wars subsisted, and until the ninth year of king Henry the third, 1224.